Lifting me out of the mess

When I hear testimonies of how God has been real in the lives of ordinary people I am greatly encouraged. Sometimes these miracles may seem small to us, but they speak of God's activity in our real-life-issues. They remind me that God does notice us and that God does care for us.

The Psalms are another place that speak of these miracles. The recount stories of how God has shown up for his people. May we never forget this.

¹ I waited patiently for the Lord to help me,
    and he turned to me and heard my cry.
² He lifted me out of the pit of despair,
    out of the mud and the mire.
He set my feet on solid ground
    and steadied me as I walked along.
³ He has given me a new song to sing,
    a hymn of praise to our God.
Many will see what he has done and be amazed.
    They will put their trust in the Lord. (Psalm 40)

Prayer: "Dear God, help us to remember how you have guided your people in the past and to trust that you can still lift us out of the mud and mire. Amen."

Living in Grace

D3LM3

Acknowledgement of request

I had to write an email to a corporate institution this week and was pleasantly surprised to immediately receive an 'acknowledgement' email in return. That in itself was not amazing, but what did surprise me was that the email stated: 

• I had made contact with the right department
• They were experiencing a high volume of queries
• They would get back to me asap

Somehow their email made we feel 'at peace' - almost as if I had been helped already or that my query would be dealt with soon. Strange, but true! 

And then I thought to myself - what if God could do that with my prayers? We could pray and God could get one of his angels to send us an email stating:

1. We have sent our request to the right department

2. God was experiencing a high volume of requests

3. He would get back to me asap

Wouldn't that make us feel more at peace? I could probably carry on without bombarding God with more requests if I just knew that he had heard me the first time. 

Or is it just me?

And then I read these words, which put me straight:

Psalm 6:9 - The Lord has heard my cry for mercy; the Lord accepts my prayer.

Psalm 40:1 - I waited patiently for the Lord; he turned to me and heard my cry.

Living in Grace

D3LM3

Waiting Patiently

The great nineteenth century evangelist George Muller remarked “if you continue to wait patiently and believingly upon God; then answers will surely be given to your prayers.” Today’s reading reminds us that our patience with the Lord will be rewarded in the end, we just may need to be very patient.

Psalm 40:1 - "I waited patiently for the Lord; he turned to me and heard my cry."

"I waited and waited and waited for God. At last he looked; finally he listened." - Eugene Peterson in the Message

The words 'waiting' and 'patiently' don't usually go hand in hand, but I guess we are urged to keep trusting in God's ability to deliver us from our times of trouble.

Living in Grace

D3LM3

Thinking of you

The words "I will be thinking of you" can do a lot to encourage a friend. We can use these kind words to bring cheer to someone, or we can be the recipient of these meaningful words. In light of this, read this scripture from Psalm 40:17:

"...let the Lord keep me in his thoughts."

I know that we are encouraged to keep God in our thoughts as often as possible, but did you note the emphasis in this verse. It is a prayer to ask God to keep us in his thoughts! 
Isn't that an awesome thought - that we can ask God to keep thinking of us throughout our day?

"For I know the thoughts I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope.” - Jeremiah 29:11.

Living in Grace
D3LM3

 

Finding out you are normal

Finding out you are normal is quite a relief. So often we assume that the struggles we are having and the stress we are under, seem to be our burden to carry. However, there are so many others dealing with similar trials and tough times.

This became so apparent to me last evening, as we shared Testimonies in our worship service. It was as if the Lord spoke through each person and allowed the congregation to feel that we are NOT ALONE in our struggles. The biggest mistake we make is looking at others and only seeing the 'mask' on the outside. Hearing that God has worked through their Story reassures all of us that God can also be REAL in our story too.

When David spoke these words to the community, he was not shy to speak of what God had done during the tough times in the past.

"I have told all your people about your justice.
    I have not been afraid to speak out,
    as you, O Lord, well know.
¹⁰ I have not kept the good news of your justice hidden in my heart;
    I have talked about your faithfulness and saving power.
I have told everyone in the great assembly    of your unfailing love and faithfulness." - Psalm 40:9-10

Remember that every believer struggles from time to time. If you are feeling as if you are in tough place right now, hold on, because you have just discovered that you are Normal :) 

Living in Grace
D3LM3


 

40

Lent is a period of 40 days of preparation before Easter - it  is actually 47 days if you include every Sunday until Easter, but these days are considered to be Sabbath days. Over the course of the next 6 weeks I have chosen to reflect on some Psalms, Proverbs and words from Ecclesiastes. I hope and pray that these words will help all of us journey towards the Blessing of the Resurrection.

A great place to start today is at Psalm 40. As I was reading through it again I was struck by the power in verse 5.

Psalm 40:5 (Message)
The world’s a huge stockpile of God-wonders and God-thoughts.
Nothing and no one comes close to you!
I start talking about you, telling what I know, and quickly run out of words.
Neither numbers nor words account for you.

Did you notice that? David was lost for words - he ran out of words to describe how amazing God is. Have you ever encountered that before? When words, numbers, letters are all totally inadequate to describe our Lord.

Psalm 40:5 -  Many, Lord my God, are the wonders you have done,
the things you planned for us. None can compare with you;
were I to speak and tell of your deeds, they would be too many to declare.

Prayer: Lord, I am lost in the wonder of who You are. Teach me to find the right words to express my praise and worship of You. None can compare with you, Jesus.

Living in Grace
D3LM3

Despair

The word 'Despair' means that we are 'without Hope' or that there is an 'absence of Hope.' We can all relate to feeling like this at times, but the Good news is that we don't need to get to the that place, if we have Jesus by our side. He is the HOPE we so desperately seek.
 
2 Corinthians 4:8 - We are pressed on every side by troubles, but we are not crushed. We are perplexed, but not driven to despair. 

Psalm 40:2 - He lifted me out of the pit of despair, out of the mud and the mire. He set my feet on solid ground and steadied me as I walked along.

"Never let us despair while we have Christ as our leader." - George Whitefield

May you not be driven to Despair today, but rather into the safe arms of Jesus.

Living in Grace
D3LM3

A fine balance

"No one has ever fallen so grievously that he may not rise again. Conversely, no one stands so firmly that he may not fall. If Peter (and Paul and Barnabas) fell, I too may fall. If they rose again, I too may rise again."  - Martin Luther. 

This quote from Martin Luther offers us 2 important insights:

1. Even if we fail, we can get up again and carry on. As I was saying in yesterday's post, no failure needs to be final!

2. We should always remain HUMBLE, because we all can make a mistake. It only takes a second to fall off the tight rope - it only takes a second to let Jesus down and to regret that for a long time.

I am very thankful for the examples of people in the Bible who have fallen, but who have then risen again and proved to be Godly men and women. 

May God help us to walk through life finely balanced!

Psalm 40:2 - "He lifted me out of the slimy pit, out of the mud and mire; he set my feet on a rock and gave me a firm place to stand."

Living in Grace

D3LM3