"Talking to yourself? That's o.k., as long as you don't answer yourself." How many times have I heard that one! If that's all it takes to label me crazy, then write it on a Post-It-Note with a big, black Sharpie and stick it to my forehead! AND YET, in my talking to/answering myself, I've noticed that I'm in some pretty good company.
The Psalmist did the same thing. In Ps. 42:5,6 he says, "Why are you cast down, O my soul? And why are you disquieted within me? Hope in God, for I shall yet praise Him for the help of His countenance. O my God, my soul is cast down within me; Therefore I will remember You from the land of the Jordan, and from the heights of Hermon, from the Hill Mizar."
He's asking and answering his own questions, isn't he? Told you I was in good company!
Now, why would the psalmist ask his soul a question and then answer it? If he can answer the question, doesn't his soul know the answer already? I think he did this for the same reason I do...to remind himself of something.
Look at the last part of vs. 6. The psalmist says, "Therefore, I will remember." In the midst of his discouragement, in the midst of being far from home and in the middle of everything UNfamiliar, the psalmist simply he declares that he'll remember God. He'll remember to worship, even in the unfamiliar places. He'll remember God is good, even at a distance...and he'll tell himself so.
I've not been in captivity, but I've walked in the unfamiliar places of the psalmist - places where my soul has longed to be quieted with something "known." In those places, discouragement comes naturally...BUT, not if we remember. Remember Who God has been to you, and Who He promises to be. Remember He loves you. Remember He's passionate about you. Remember He holds your very life in His hands and numbers the hairs of your head. Remember God is still good, even at a distance...and then tell yourself so.
Doesn't sound so crazy after all, does it!?!
Thank You God, that when my heart aches, I can take heart in You. I can remember Your faithfulness to me in the "land of the living," and I can rejoice for what's to come, instead of focusing on what has been. Thank You for writing down the feelings and emotions of the psalmists, so I can know I am never alone. Help me to speak life to my soul...to encourage myself in You...to tell myself so. Thank You, Father. Thank You.
Monday, August 30, 2010
Friday, August 27, 2010
God's Right On TIme
Raining cats and dogs can't even come close describing tonight's drenching rain. Raining tigers and wolves maybe, but definitely not cats and dogs! All day long, the rain had fallen, sometimes heavy, sometimes light, but at this moment, it was pouring. I had just pulled into our subdivision, when it hit me - silly bandz. Our daughter KK had been waiting anxiously for an order of silly bandz she had purchased off EBAY. They were supposed to come on 8/23. Today was the 24th.
So you see, I found myself in a dilemma - check the outdoor community mailbox for silly band arrival or proceed home, pretending I didn't think about stopping. What to do...what to do? Of course, you know what I did. I stopped. Her squeals and dances of silly-band-euphoria would be well-worth a little drenching!
I drove up to the mailbox. pulling as close as I could...quite a feat for a Suburban! I rolled the window down, hoping the "growls and howls" would stop the exact moment my arm left the safety of the window. Didn't happen. My arm grew cold with the wet rain as I stretched to reach the box. I bravely stuck the key into the lock, turned it, removed the mail, and then turned the key back into the locked position. Victory was mine...or so I thought. There was only one more thing standing in my way of rolling up the window and taking cover in my big green "Burbee" - key retrieval. I reached out for the final time and pulled. Nothing happened. I pulled again. Surely this couldn't be, but it was. The key was stuck. I don't mean just a little hung on something...I mean, STUCK. After futilely trying to make it budge with my left hand, I grabbed the soaking wet umbrella from the back seat. Water had collected inside the material and all of it came rushing down on me as I opened my "protective covering." I carefully positioned the umbrella just right, so that only a few stray raindrops came my way. I grabbed the key again, still with no luck. Finally, I said out loud, "Lord, I really need this key. Could You help me?"
After a few more attempts, it dawned on me. Maybe it was God's plan for that key to remain jammed. He might have some other purpose or some other person that I (we) needed to meet, and He was using our key to do it.
I decided to leave, but couldn't because the mailbox key was conveniently attached to my car keys. The Mailbox Monster seemed to taunt me, but I was determined not to let him keep me in his grasp. I unbuckled my seat belt, turned "catty-cornered" (I don't know either. Mom always used that word to mean something in a really weird position), reached with both hands, and worked to get the key off the keyring. After several attempts and a few more rain drops, I successfully maneuvered the key off the ring. At last, my suburban and I were free to go.
I don't know what made me want to try to retrieve the key one last time, but for some reason, I grabbed that stubborn little piece of metal and pulled. Of course, to no one's surprise, it came out with great ease. I laughed out loud, wet arm and all. I had spent a good 5 minutes trying to free that key. It would have been a whole lot easier if God had answered my request when I first prayed, but He didn't.
Now, I know it may sound silly to some of you that I prayed about my key being stuck in the mailbox. I have to confess, I did feel a little silly speaking that prayer out loud, but on the flip-side, I've also seen some amazing answers to "silly prayers" like that one. Because of that, I fully expected God to help me with my key. I fully expected it to come out the next time I pulled. What I didn't fully expect was for it to come out at the last minute.
That made me start thinking...
God's timing doesn't always coincide with ours. When we want something, we want it NOW, and everybody better get out of our way if we don't get it. In our minds, waiting is not part of our plan, and therefore, should never be part of the plan.
There's a commercial about a specific law firm that illustrates this perfectly. On the screen, you see person after person, sticking their heads out of windows, cars doors, fire escapes, etc..., and they're all saying the same thing: It's my money and I want it NOW!. Cracks me up. They sound like three year olds, instead of mature adults who understand things don't always happen just because we want them to.
Yet, I find myself approaching God this way, sometimes. I tell Him - the Creator of the Universe - that it's mine and I want it now! Talk about a silly-sounding prayer. Talk about a disrespectful, ungrateful prayer. But I don't want to wait. It's raining and I'm getting wet and worst of all, I'm uncomfortable. I need relief, and I need it NOW.
There are times that God answers those prayers, and then there are times like tonight at the mailbox, when God gently reminds me it's not always in my best interest to have what I want...NOW. You see, He sees it all. He's got my whole life laid out in the pattern of a beautiful tapestry. I can only imagine what horrible colors and patterns my tapestry would show forth, if I decided the Master Weaver wasn't spinning His threads fast enough.
Beloved of God, He "has it," even if you don't see it. Someone once said that if we could figure out what God was doing, then He wouldn't be God. I agree. We just have to trust the One who created us to know what He's doing, even when we don't. Is. 55:8,9 For My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways My ways, says the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts.
Thank You, Father that Your ways are higher than ours. We confess that. Thank You that Your thoughts are higher than ours, and we confess that too! Thank You that we don't have to trust in our own little ways of thinking, but instead can trust ourselves fully and completely to the Master Weaver...even when the answer takes longer than we want or expect. You are truly amazing. Amen.
So you see, I found myself in a dilemma - check the outdoor community mailbox for silly band arrival or proceed home, pretending I didn't think about stopping. What to do...what to do? Of course, you know what I did. I stopped. Her squeals and dances of silly-band-euphoria would be well-worth a little drenching!
I drove up to the mailbox. pulling as close as I could...quite a feat for a Suburban! I rolled the window down, hoping the "growls and howls" would stop the exact moment my arm left the safety of the window. Didn't happen. My arm grew cold with the wet rain as I stretched to reach the box. I bravely stuck the key into the lock, turned it, removed the mail, and then turned the key back into the locked position. Victory was mine...or so I thought. There was only one more thing standing in my way of rolling up the window and taking cover in my big green "Burbee" - key retrieval. I reached out for the final time and pulled. Nothing happened. I pulled again. Surely this couldn't be, but it was. The key was stuck. I don't mean just a little hung on something...I mean, STUCK. After futilely trying to make it budge with my left hand, I grabbed the soaking wet umbrella from the back seat. Water had collected inside the material and all of it came rushing down on me as I opened my "protective covering." I carefully positioned the umbrella just right, so that only a few stray raindrops came my way. I grabbed the key again, still with no luck. Finally, I said out loud, "Lord, I really need this key. Could You help me?"
After a few more attempts, it dawned on me. Maybe it was God's plan for that key to remain jammed. He might have some other purpose or some other person that I (we) needed to meet, and He was using our key to do it.
I decided to leave, but couldn't because the mailbox key was conveniently attached to my car keys. The Mailbox Monster seemed to taunt me, but I was determined not to let him keep me in his grasp. I unbuckled my seat belt, turned "catty-cornered" (I don't know either. Mom always used that word to mean something in a really weird position), reached with both hands, and worked to get the key off the keyring. After several attempts and a few more rain drops, I successfully maneuvered the key off the ring. At last, my suburban and I were free to go.
I don't know what made me want to try to retrieve the key one last time, but for some reason, I grabbed that stubborn little piece of metal and pulled. Of course, to no one's surprise, it came out with great ease. I laughed out loud, wet arm and all. I had spent a good 5 minutes trying to free that key. It would have been a whole lot easier if God had answered my request when I first prayed, but He didn't.
Now, I know it may sound silly to some of you that I prayed about my key being stuck in the mailbox. I have to confess, I did feel a little silly speaking that prayer out loud, but on the flip-side, I've also seen some amazing answers to "silly prayers" like that one. Because of that, I fully expected God to help me with my key. I fully expected it to come out the next time I pulled. What I didn't fully expect was for it to come out at the last minute.
That made me start thinking...
God's timing doesn't always coincide with ours. When we want something, we want it NOW, and everybody better get out of our way if we don't get it. In our minds, waiting is not part of our plan, and therefore, should never be part of the plan.
There's a commercial about a specific law firm that illustrates this perfectly. On the screen, you see person after person, sticking their heads out of windows, cars doors, fire escapes, etc..., and they're all saying the same thing: It's my money and I want it NOW!. Cracks me up. They sound like three year olds, instead of mature adults who understand things don't always happen just because we want them to.
Yet, I find myself approaching God this way, sometimes. I tell Him - the Creator of the Universe - that it's mine and I want it now! Talk about a silly-sounding prayer. Talk about a disrespectful, ungrateful prayer. But I don't want to wait. It's raining and I'm getting wet and worst of all, I'm uncomfortable. I need relief, and I need it NOW.
There are times that God answers those prayers, and then there are times like tonight at the mailbox, when God gently reminds me it's not always in my best interest to have what I want...NOW. You see, He sees it all. He's got my whole life laid out in the pattern of a beautiful tapestry. I can only imagine what horrible colors and patterns my tapestry would show forth, if I decided the Master Weaver wasn't spinning His threads fast enough.
Beloved of God, He "has it," even if you don't see it. Someone once said that if we could figure out what God was doing, then He wouldn't be God. I agree. We just have to trust the One who created us to know what He's doing, even when we don't. Is. 55:8,9 For My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways My ways, says the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts.
Thank You, Father that Your ways are higher than ours. We confess that. Thank You that Your thoughts are higher than ours, and we confess that too! Thank You that we don't have to trust in our own little ways of thinking, but instead can trust ourselves fully and completely to the Master Weaver...even when the answer takes longer than we want or expect. You are truly amazing. Amen.
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