The Lord is at Hand
Psalm 138:1-3
1. I give thee thanks, O Lord, with my whole heart; before the gods I sing thy praise; 2. I bow down toward thy holy temple and give thanks to thy name for thy steadfast love and thy faithfulness; for thou hast exalted above everything thy name and thy word. 3. On the day I called, thou didst answer me, my strength of soul thou didst increase.
Philippians 4:4-7
4. Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice. 5. Let all men know your forbearance. The Lord is at hand. 6. Have no anxiety about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. 7. And the peace of God, which passes all understanding, will keep your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
You may have noticed I didn’t post a devotion on Friday. I struggled about whether or not to “force it” or just let it be. It’s obvious how it turned out. I was pretty spent by Friday. Finished up my 5th week at my new job, which I truly love. It is challenging though, and a whole different rhythm than what I had grown accustomed to in my previous job. I had grown used to having several days to “vision” and look at “big picture” issues and then go into action for several days implementing the plan. I had many phone calls and e-mails throughout the day, but they were scattered, interspersed with “down time.” That has NOT been the case at my current job! And the death of the mother of teenagers from our youth group has really hit me hard.
I’ve been spending some time with God this weekend asking him to reveal to me “what’s up!” What is this feeling I have? What is this sense I can’t quite put my finger on? I realized Saturday that I have gotten way too wrapped up in
everything. I had joked a few times with friends that PTSD from all the changes in my life was going to kick in and I think that may be what hit me last week. And I realized that I had been falling into the “It’s all about me” mode with a great deal of facility! I took my eyes off God and placed myself smack in the center of my world!
It’s human nature, I know. But I still just kick myself when it happens. (Notice I didn’t say “if” it happens!) The thing is, all the changes have been good! They’ve been positive changes that we were able to willingly and intentionally implement -- two new jobs, a new house, and several other “smaller” blessings have come our way. But they all caused change. And change is not always easy, even when it’s good. This morning I almost gave up and walked away from my post. (I started over twice!) But I needed these words this morning, and I have found that often others need exactly the same words on any given day. It’s a “God-thing!” Because after all, he is the one in charge! He is the potter and I am the clay.
It’s not always fun or easy to be reshaped, and made into something new. It can be stressful and challenging and cause us to focus on ourselves, rather than on the plan God has for us. I believe God led me to these scripture this morning as a reminder that I need to “chill” as my son would say. Let go. Let God. He’s so much smarter, stronger, wiser and so much better at running the world than I could ever hope to be. “6.Have no anxiety about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. 7. And the peace of God, which passes all understanding, will keep your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”
My prayer today is that you join me in turning over every aspect of your life to God. And that you trust he’s already made all the contingency plans we need!
Mary
