"You hold my eyelids open; I am so troubled that I cannot speak." The NLT says, " You don't let me sleep. I am too distressed even to pray!" (Psalm 77:4)
I am still working on the, "whirlwind," Word, but today I thought I would give you a break.
Our text was a written-on-my-heart passage 48 years ago. Maybe there have been times, even now perhaps, when this describes you. "Extreme anxiety, sorrow or pain," is how the dictionary defines distress. There are few, if any at all, in the global population who have not experienced this. If you are not "there," I am not attempting to take you "back there." I am, however, assuring you again of the wonderful promises of our, "Word of God," Jesus Christ Himself.
I call upon you to do what the psalmist did in succeeding verses. "But then I recall all you have done, O Lord; I remember Your wonderful deeds of long ago. They are constantly in my thoughts. I cannot stop thinking about Your mighty works" (vv. 11, 12). We can always begin with the, "wonderful deeds," of our New Birth, the Baptism in the Holy Spirit, which enabled us to, "see the Kingdom of God...," and in the waters of Baptism we then, "enter[ed] the Kingdom of God" (John 3). And we can all add "individual" testimonies of just how "Great Is Thy Faithfulness" over our lifetime.
Some "seasons" can seem like the psalmist's experience in 77:7, "Will He never again be kind to me? Is His unfailing love gone forever?" But we know, do we not, that the answer to this forlorn question is a resounding, NO! Praise the Living Triune God today. Affirm His, "exceedingly great and precious promises," or as the song writer wrote, "Count your many blessings, see what God hath done."
Father, in Jesus' Name, it is too easy for me to count my "defeats." I thank You for always telling me to "count" my blessings. Amen>
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Please pray with me that I will get the schedule for the Supreme Court nominee hearings in time to reserve a place in DC.
When Peter, an 18 year old Norwegian, "heard the call to evangelize China, on that day he not only emptied his wallet into the collection plate, but included a small note with the words, 'and my life.'"
Hebrews 12:2
Hebrews 12:2
