I remember the days of old. I meditate on all that You have done. I ponder the work of Your hands. I stretch out my hands to You. My soul thirsts for you like a parched land.
(Verses 5-6) Italics, mine
Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all His benefits, Who forgives all your iniquity, Who heals all your diseases, Who redeems your life from the pit, Who crowns you with steadfast love and mercy, Who satisfies you with good so that your youth is renewed like the eagle's.
Psalm 103 Italics, mine
Remembering is a choice. Sometimes, a hard choice. It's easier to sit in the darkness of our circumstances and opine about all that is wrong, how we got there or that we'll never get out. And many of us have been in circumstances so depressing and hard that all we see is black. The enemy wants to take that pain and use it to obscure hope. Listening to the voice screaming at us in the dark that we are doomed and no one cares could become a 24-7 symphony of senselessness. A trick or treat served up by the devil himself to frighten us into submission. If we don't intentionally remember how loved we are by God, how God has retrieved us from the pit time and again, and that God is mightier than the enemy or our circumstances, we might just sit in the darkness for a long time.
Nancy's husband left her after a little over a year of marriage. He wasn't sure about whether he still wanted to be married. Was rather infatuated with a woman at work. Just didn't want to live with his new wife right then. Nancy adored her man. Grieved and grieved the loss. Found a little apartment. A good job and dragged her aching heart forward. What she didn't do was sit in the dark and vanish. In her heart she knew her husband would return. She knew her God works miracles. The answer wasn't instant. It took years before her husband came back wanting her again. If Nancy had weighed her circumstances in those years against the possibility her marriage would be renewed, she would have caved to despair. She chose instead to say, "I know God will answer this prayer." Her eyes looked up. Not out, at what was happening. They are still married many, many years later.
Cathette was my dearest friend. She discovered, at age 34, that she had breast cancer. On the same day I discovered I was pregnant with my son. I remember tiptoeing into her hospital room minutes after the surgeon told her he'd need to remove her breast. She'd married late--the year before. Always wanted children of her own. Chemotherapy would make that a long shot. My friend lay there with her long dark curls decorating the pillow beneath her head and smiled at me. "I am the Lord's." That was her response. Tears sparkled in her eyes. It was a hard diagnosis to hear. But Cathette chose to look at Him instead of her circumstances. She lived to adopt two amazing sons. Her cancer returned. But even in her last few weeks, her heart gained strength in Jesus. She called me one afternoon after she began the morphine that would finally make her sleep until her death, and said: "Thank you for leading me to Jesus. Thank you for teaching me to trust. I know where I am going. I know I will be with Him soon. I love you." Though we cried together, parting tears, even then my beautiful friend looked up.
Remembering to turn our eyes on what God has done in us in the past will assure us He will take care of us in our darkest moments. And they come. To everyone. Christians are not exempt from pain and trouble. But it could actually hone our focus, knowing we either groan and complain in the experience or choose to think about how big our God is. God is the only One Who can ease the terror of our times. The blanching of our hearts that makes them dry up and lose hope. Fear is a soul thing. No doubt we will need to talk with Him about what is going on. We are free to cry our pain out to Him as David does here. The point is, God listens. God has been faithful in the past. God will be faithful again...until we go home to Him. If we forget God and listen to the lies of the enemy, our pain will lead us into hopelessness. And it's easy to look at where we are in sickness, abandonment, chaos, brokenness or financial distress. Some of our circumstances are horrendous. That's exactly why we must choose to look to Jesus instead of looking around us. Living water on parched land produces fruit. Hands reached out in hope to Jesus will not come back empty. And even, as with Cathette, when we are walking through the valley of the shadow of death, we don't need to fear the evil one. Our God is with us. Never forget that.
(Verses 5-6) Italics, mine
Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all His benefits, Who forgives all your iniquity, Who heals all your diseases, Who redeems your life from the pit, Who crowns you with steadfast love and mercy, Who satisfies you with good so that your youth is renewed like the eagle's.
Psalm 103 Italics, mine
Remembering is a choice. Sometimes, a hard choice. It's easier to sit in the darkness of our circumstances and opine about all that is wrong, how we got there or that we'll never get out. And many of us have been in circumstances so depressing and hard that all we see is black. The enemy wants to take that pain and use it to obscure hope. Listening to the voice screaming at us in the dark that we are doomed and no one cares could become a 24-7 symphony of senselessness. A trick or treat served up by the devil himself to frighten us into submission. If we don't intentionally remember how loved we are by God, how God has retrieved us from the pit time and again, and that God is mightier than the enemy or our circumstances, we might just sit in the darkness for a long time.
Nancy's husband left her after a little over a year of marriage. He wasn't sure about whether he still wanted to be married. Was rather infatuated with a woman at work. Just didn't want to live with his new wife right then. Nancy adored her man. Grieved and grieved the loss. Found a little apartment. A good job and dragged her aching heart forward. What she didn't do was sit in the dark and vanish. In her heart she knew her husband would return. She knew her God works miracles. The answer wasn't instant. It took years before her husband came back wanting her again. If Nancy had weighed her circumstances in those years against the possibility her marriage would be renewed, she would have caved to despair. She chose instead to say, "I know God will answer this prayer." Her eyes looked up. Not out, at what was happening. They are still married many, many years later.
Cathette was my dearest friend. She discovered, at age 34, that she had breast cancer. On the same day I discovered I was pregnant with my son. I remember tiptoeing into her hospital room minutes after the surgeon told her he'd need to remove her breast. She'd married late--the year before. Always wanted children of her own. Chemotherapy would make that a long shot. My friend lay there with her long dark curls decorating the pillow beneath her head and smiled at me. "I am the Lord's." That was her response. Tears sparkled in her eyes. It was a hard diagnosis to hear. But Cathette chose to look at Him instead of her circumstances. She lived to adopt two amazing sons. Her cancer returned. But even in her last few weeks, her heart gained strength in Jesus. She called me one afternoon after she began the morphine that would finally make her sleep until her death, and said: "Thank you for leading me to Jesus. Thank you for teaching me to trust. I know where I am going. I know I will be with Him soon. I love you." Though we cried together, parting tears, even then my beautiful friend looked up.
Remembering to turn our eyes on what God has done in us in the past will assure us He will take care of us in our darkest moments. And they come. To everyone. Christians are not exempt from pain and trouble. But it could actually hone our focus, knowing we either groan and complain in the experience or choose to think about how big our God is. God is the only One Who can ease the terror of our times. The blanching of our hearts that makes them dry up and lose hope. Fear is a soul thing. No doubt we will need to talk with Him about what is going on. We are free to cry our pain out to Him as David does here. The point is, God listens. God has been faithful in the past. God will be faithful again...until we go home to Him. If we forget God and listen to the lies of the enemy, our pain will lead us into hopelessness. And it's easy to look at where we are in sickness, abandonment, chaos, brokenness or financial distress. Some of our circumstances are horrendous. That's exactly why we must choose to look to Jesus instead of looking around us. Living water on parched land produces fruit. Hands reached out in hope to Jesus will not come back empty. And even, as with Cathette, when we are walking through the valley of the shadow of death, we don't need to fear the evil one. Our God is with us. Never forget that.
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