I am thankful. Thankful to God, because He hears our cries for mercy.
But first, I must confess a snapshot of yesterday morning.
One of disappointment, confusion, stress, and unrest.
Yes, ultimately, I wasn’t disappointed about circumstances or people, (but, consciously, I might of thought myself to be), but because I truly believe the Lord is in control and that everything that happens is “filtered through the Father’s fingers,”
I need to be flat out honest here, in all reality, my anger and disappointment was toward God.
I believe in God. But yesterday morning, every ounce of my being was in warfare. I was fighting a battle in my mind, and my heart, I suppose, as I woke to face a challenging day.
Just do the next thing, words I remembered from Elisabeth Elliot came to mind, so I opened God’s Word, in Psalm 34 in my rough state of being:
I will bless the Lord at all times;
His praise shall continually be in my mouth.
My soul shall make its boast in the Lord; . . .
I couldn’t find a song. It’s as if it were lost. I felt I was dangling in an ocean’s depths with seaweed around my neck.
In this snapshot of my moments of confusion and doubt, I felt as if trying to believe His word, but as in a dream, unable to reach the destination.
Trying to find some solid foundation, but the seaweed of confusion had me sunk below the surface.
“I sought the LORD, and He heard me, and delivered me from all my fears, . . .”
More like, ” I fought the LORD, and doubt had silenced my cry.”
I read on in Psalm 34, but I was unable to grasp anything to bring rest and peace to my heart.
Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good;
Blessed is the man who trusts in Him!
Oh, fear the Lord, you His saints!
There is no want to those who fear Him.
The young lions lack and suffer hunger;
But those who seek the Lord shall not lack any good thing.
Because of circumstance, I was sinking in unbelief. I later sent texts for prayer.
I called a family member who knows me—the good, the bad, and the ugly. Prayers to our God were given.
The next snapshot of the day, is the struggle to breathe in and out through activity and interaction, minute by minute, hour after hour. And, all the while, fighting inside to find the air of Peace, and Truth, and Comfort, and Joy.
Just do the next thing . . . this thought, my only motivation.
But, in hectic and schedule, I walked through a door. His hand picked me up. His arms took hold of my weak flesh. He turned my lack into abundance.
God did.
The very One whom I was disappointed in before.
God reached out and touched my sinking heart by hands from . . . the Church.
The Snapshot: People pooled together in energy ignited by the Lord, (because He did hear my cries. God does hear our voice.) Out of the ocean’s depths of sorrow, I was picked up in an instant.
Immediately, lifted from heaviness to light was I.
So, this morning I write. “Thank you God for Your faithful love and grace. And Thank you Lord for Your hands touching me through the Church. Dear Lord, help us remember and believe past our unbelief:
The eyes of the Lord are on the righteous,
And His ears are open to their cry . . .
The righteous cry out, and the Lord hears, And delivers them out of all their troubles.
The Lord is near to those who have a broken heart, And saves such as have a contrite spirit.
Many are the afflictions of the righteous,
But the Lord delivers him out of them all,
I believe You dear Lord, and I thank You for Your Word, and the loving hands of Your Church.
I sought the Lord, and He heard me,
And delivered me from all my fears.
They looked to Him and were radiant,
And their faces were not ashamed.
To Psalm 34, the Lord’s faithfulness, and the Love of the Church, I say this new morning, Amen.”
The Snapshot: Joy.
Oh my friend I was this way Daily this week. Asking Him were we truly supposed to come back home? You encouraged me to keep looking to Him. He has even this!