a child of god
this is the way, run in it
"How lovely are Your dwelling places, O LORD of hosts!" cries out the writer of Psalm 84. This was one of my mother's favorite psalms, and it is one of mine, as well. Every phrase rolls around on my tongue delightfully, like a fancy chocolate dessert, to be savored, to be enjoyed, to want more of. And God Himself is like that! The psalmist also says, "taste and see that the LORD is good!" (Psalm 34:8). And once we have had that taste of God's love for us and the magnitude of His blessings on us, His hand over our lives, we want more. There is nothing and no one else like God. He is beautiful and awesome and powerful and compassionate and true . . . and so much more. Psalm 84 talks about how even birds find their place to build their nests for their chicks on the Lord's altar - that is how safe it is in the Lord's presence. For me, right now, grieving about not having my Mom with me, with my family, right now, until we all are in heaven together again, in the glory of the Lord's fully revealed presence (can't wait! that's going to be awesome!), verses 5-7 are special. They speak to me about this time period I'm going through. They say this: How blessed is the man or woman whose strength is in You; in whose heart are the highways to Zion! Passing through the valley of Baca, they make it a spring. The early rain also covers it with blessings. They go from strength to strength, every one of them appears before God in Zion." Even when we are going through a time of grief, people - even when we are in a desperate place of grief, or just an overwhelming time of sadness - even when we feel like we are in a dry and dusty place, slogging it out across an all encompassing and endless desert - there God uses our tears to bring blessing! His word says that He keeps each and every tear we have shed in a bottle (Psalm 139) - God sees, He knows, and He cares. When we go through this kind of time period trusting in God, even in times of tears, God makes us strong. Isn't that amazing! The more we lean on Him, the more we are dependent on Him to get us through this time period, the stronger He makes us. It doesn't mean the tears go away, but He uses those tears to bring blessing. It is possible to cry and to laugh for joy at the same time. This is truly possible with God. When our hearts cry out to God - I need You! - I just wanna be where You are - then we will find that kind of refuge that we need, deep down within us we will find God's presence is our anchor. Psalm 84 goes on to say, For the LORD God is a sun and shield; the LORD gives grace and glory; no good thing does He withhold from those who walk uprightly. O LORD of hosts, how blessed is the man or woman who trusts in Thee! We can trust God - with everything, our loved ones, this time period, the next, the outcome of a particular time period, or God task. He is the LORD God. He is in control and when we belong to Him, live in Him, make our nest on His altar, entrust our young to Him, He always comes through. Praise Him!
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My family and I have been through an earthquake, a seismic change, if you will. I'm not quite ready to write about it in depth; although, there is a lot to be thankful for, glimpses of glory in the midst of agony. My mother had a stroke and died in December. She is seeing more than just a glimpse of glory now! I would love to know what that's like - being with Jesus and God the Father in heaven.
So I was out of pocket from "normal life" for the month of December, and I'm now back trying to move forward in a time period that feels so very different from before. I'm not worried about it. I know who I belong to, and I know God has a purpose and a plan for this time period. He always does. I simply feel the need of His help, and the help of my family, friends and church family, in figuring out how to go forward from here. I was reading in Romans this morning. I love the book of Romans! And in chapter 5, Paul is talking about how when we believe in God, believe that Jesus is the Son of God, and that He came to save us from our sins - when we believe in God, God forgives us our sins and clothes us with Jesus' righteousness. We become right in God's eyes, just like Abraham did when he believed in God. Abraham (Genesis 15) believed in God, in what He said to Abraham, in what He promised even though it seemed crazy and impossible (for nothing is impossible for God), and God equated that belief with righteousness for Abraham. The bit about Abraham believing in God and looking to God even though he couldn't see how God was going to take him forward and fulfill that promise to him - that bit speaks to me now, when I don't see the way forward clearly. And that's ok. When we are walking, or climbing a mountain, and we don't see the path clearly, we slow down, even stop, until we see the path to take. That's where I am now. Romans, chapter 5, also goes on to talk about exulting - love that word. Not only can we exult before God in who He is, but He, Himself, the God of the universe, exults over us - He shouts, sings, and broods with love over us (Zephaniah 3:17). And we can give that right back to Him! But in this Romans' passage, it is talking about how we can exult in difficult times (which blows our minds), because we can know that going through those difficult times with God helps us develop perseverance, sticking with it with the Lord, and helps us by developing our character - who we are when the chips are down, when we are put to the test (and my family and I faced that in December) - and ultimately leads to hope. Here is what the Bible says about this kind of hope, God's kind of hope: "and hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us." That hope, the living, sure and certain, hope of God, is poured out into us, like custard spilling over and running down over sticky toffee pudding (one of my favorite British deserts), or like a well of living water gushing up, fresh, clean, cold and just what we need on a hot and dry, dusty day. Satisfying, refreshing, delicious, life-giving. That is our God and that is what He does in us when we believe in Him, no matter what our circumstances look like. Let's shout back to Him today how much we love Him and delight in life with Him, even death with Him when we know He is the One who will raise us up again! Our lives are in His hands. Always. When we believe in Him and trust Him. |
Franci Ballwatching and working for the kingdom of God in Sutton Coldfield, Birmingham - UK Archives
January 2019
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