“God, God, save me! I’m in over my head…”  Psalm 69:1

Boy, I could spend days on just this one Psalm.  It takes me from one end of David’s (or whoever wrote this Psalm with David in mind) emotions to the other.  I think that’s what I like about it.  This Psalm lets me know that God listens to us each time we speak – even in our revengeful anger.  The Bible is full of stories and attitudes that are not condoned by God, but He listens and responds.  When I am angry and say things out of the wrong motivations of my hurt, God listens.  He definitely corrects my poor attitudes and destructive thoughts, but He listens.  And then He responds.  Sometimes He responds to me through a particularly committed friend.  There have been times that music has communicated God’s heart to me.  I am appreciative that God shows me the respect and the attention that I often forget to show other people.  He makes time for me and my rants, every bit as much as my prayers of thanksgiving.  He loves me just as I am, but – here’s the part I am most appreciative of – He refuses to leave me there. 

Like many of our most sincere prayers, this Psalm starts with the brutal honesty of our need for God and His rescue.  “Save me, O God…”  David works his request out with God, asking for rescue from his terrible circumstances and all of his enemies, but he is also honest about his own shortcomings “God, You know every sin I’ve committed…”  David’s fear drives him towards anger against “those who seek to destroy” him because of his belief in Yahweh, the God of Israel.  All of David’s innermost thoughts come out here.  There’s a funny thing about prayer I find in a good portion of the Psalms… no matter where they start out, they usually end up in praise and true worship.

God, may my prayers be as honest as David’s - putting myself into Your hands as The Potter.  May we all feel the confidence in you as our Father to come to you with whatever we are feeling or experiencing, especially when we feel dry and cracked.  And may we all be willing let You mold our attitudes into the shape of true worship and trust.

Psalm 67:2  “May your ways be known throughout the earth, your saving power among people everywhere.”

That’s God’s plan!!!  That people everywhere would come to know Him as Lord and Savior.  Even in the Old Testament, as the Psalmist is writing about and describing God, he recognizes that the ways of God need to be known, should be known, throughout the earth.  People everywhere should know about the saving power of God.

It’s so cool to see the consistent, concise message of salvation woven throughout the Scriptures.  It challenges me to be more diligent and focused on sharing about God’s saving power through Jesus and it reminds me that as a believer I am called to be used by God in a way that makes His ways known throughout the earth!!!

Lord, help me to take more initiative and to be more purposeful in my life as it relates to sharing the Gospel.  Give me opportunities and help me to make the most of those opportunities and please Lord let your saving power be evident in my life as I interact with others.

But certainly God has heard; He has given heed to the voice of my prayer. Blessed be God, Who has not turned away my prayer, nor His lovingkindness from me.              Psalm 66: 19,20

This time…this season of my life has been in prayer for years. My mother has been ill for many years, and according to hospice, she has a week, or two left in the world. I am not going to go into details, but I have prayed for this time, my family, our relationships. I have prayed very specifically, on my knees, broken hearted at times. I prayed that my family would be restored, and that they would come to know the Lord.

The situation of these last 7 months has been intense as my mother’s life is ending. I can see that the Lord has used every aspect of it to further His kingdom, and His eternal plan. Every long, drawn out, painful moment has revealed the realness, the fragrance of faith in Him. His peace and strength has been prayed for, and manifested, and the glory goes to Him.

The thing that I want to remember is that His strength is manifest in my weakness. I can go boldly before His throne, even years ahead and ask for his provision. I needed to be ready for this time…to be with my family, and to say goodbye for now to my mom. It has been confirmed (as per prayer) that she knows that she is going to heaven to be with Jesus.

And He has said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness.” Most gladly, therefore, I will rather boast about my weaknesses, that the power of Christ may dwell in me.  Therefore I am well content with weaknesses, with insults, with distress, with persecutions, with difficulties, for Christ’s sake; for when I am weak, then I am strong.  2 Corinthians 12:9,10

We do not always “see” the answers to our prayers, but I know that if we are praying, and looking expectantly for the Lord to work, our hearts will be ready to see Him, no matter what the “answer” is. It really is all about eternity.

Lord, thank you for hearing my prayers, and for preparing my heart for this time. Lord thank you for your strength and peace, and lovingkindness. Please give me the faith that I need to let go of my mom when you take her home.

2 Corinthians 13:11  “I close my letter with these words:  Rejoice.  Change your ways.  Encourage each other.  Live in harmony and peace.  Then the God of love and peace will be with you.”

Rejoice.  Change.  Encourage.  Live.

Paul is saying focus on what is good, change what’s bad, build others up, and live in such a way that people are unified and connected, rather than divided and in conflict.

As I live this way Paul indicates that there will be blessing from God and His presence will be evident in my life.

Lord help me to be more of a rejoicer.  In the good and the bad.  Show me the areas in my life that I need to change and help me to be encouraging those around me.

As a Christian, I have heard the phrase “thorn in the flesh” referred to in several ways.  The most obvious was about the Apostle Paul in verse 7 of chapter 12.  Here is one of those unanswered trivials…what was his “thorn”.  Here are a few opinions:
 It was a headache. It was epilepsy.  It was a recurrent malarial fever. It was all the adversaries of the Word. It was fleshly temptation.  It was a spiritual temptation. It was infirmities of the mind. It was lustful thoughts. It was acute, disfiguring ophthalmia. It was the false teachers.  It was blasphemous thoughts of the devil. It was Malta fever.  Or perhaps…It was a man on the Jerusalem council.
 

It would be a shame however if I were to focus all our attention on that curious statement.  It would totally miss what Paul is saying.  Who knows what his thorn was, what he meant was, that his weakness kept him humble and reliant upon God.  “For when I am weak, then I am strong.” (vs. 10b)
 

What I received from this part of chapter 12 was what I saw written in red: “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” (vs. 9)  In my life, that has meant that in the times I am forced to do nothing on my own, but to rely completely on the Lord…He is then glorified.  I can’t number the times I have done things my way and thought I was pleasing Him.  Then I turn around and see how He has used something I consider a weakness, to use in me to bring about His mission.  There are also those times when I am weak in heart…when I call out to the Lord in frustration or emptiness.  Remembering His grace towards me and how it can be enough….that He can work in and through whatever I am in to do His will.  Often times I can look back and see how if I were not weak…I would have missed His blessing or His power. 
 

In a world where weakness is not appealing, our relationship with the Lord really does require us to be weak towards Him.  Humble, willing to be used, open, offering up the good and the bad and saying…please use me however to show Yourself to all around me.
 

Perhaps you are in a weak time.  Or you struggle with something in your life that you label as a weakness.  Offer that to the Lord.  You may be incredibly surprised what God can do when he has the controls and makes something beautiful out of it because you are willing to trust Him and let Him.  I’m sure speaking to myself here too!  May we all boast about our weaknesses so that others can see a glimpse of the awesome power of God in our lives!
 

Thank you God for your grace.  That it is sufficient, enough and all that I need in my time of weakness.  Thank you for my thorns.  Though they hurt or bother or confuse me, please remind me to offer them to You, so that You can show Your power.  Thank you God that You allow these thorns to keep me humble and to remind me who is in control.  Thank You that You love me enough to allow thorns and that You are with me amidst the discomfort.  And that in my weakness Your power is made perfect.

2 Corinthians 6:2  “For God says, ‘At just the right time, I heard you.  On the day of salvation, I helped you.’  Indeed, God is ready to help you right now.  Today is the day of salvation.”

God is ready.  At any given moment, God is prepared and ready to provide help.  I just need to ask for Him to intervene.  This verse talks specifically about God’s readiness to provide salvation help and His willingness to save the person who realizes his/her need for a Savior.  But for me personally it was a great reminder that God is a helping God in all things.  I am encouraged that His timing is perfect, I am overwhelmed by His willingness, and I am motivated to look to Him today for the help and strength that I need.

Lord thank you that today is the day of salvation and please remind me of your saving love and grace.  Help me Lord to serve you today with a salvation mindset and because you have saved me I am serving you and please help me to rely on your power and ability.

I Corinthians 15:58  “So, my dear brothers and sisters, be strong and steady, always enthusiastic about the Lord’s work, for you know that nothing you do for the Lord is ever useless.”

The stuff I do, matters.  The things I plan, count.  The effort I put into ministry and the connections I make with people, makes a difference.

Paul understood the possibilities of discouragement and challenge as it relates to ministry and serving the Lord.  There are times when I wonder…  “Is this making a difference?  Does this really matter?  Is what I am doing, worthwhile?”  And then I read a verse like this and I am reminded, encouraged, energized, and enthused about the fact that, whatever is done for the Lord is not in vain.  The time building relationships with people, the planning, the preparing, the programming, and the putting ministry into action is useful to the Lord.

Nothing I do for the Lord is ever useless.  Wow!!  That is a powerful statement!  Today as I serve the Lord with my life, it is a reminder to me to steward every minute and be excited and enthusiastic about what the Lord has placed before me today.

Father, thank you for the opportunity to serve you.  Thank you for this awesome reminder to stay strong and steady in you and to be enthused about what I am doing and what you have called me to do.  The time today, that you have given me will be used by you in powerful ways, because I am using my time to honor and glorify you.  Help me Lord to keep that on the front of my mind and deep in my heart today.  Amen!!

I Chronicles 22:11 “Now, my son, the LORD be with you, and may you have success and build the house of the LORD your God, as he said you would.

David had gotten an idea of something he wanted to do for the Lord. God let David know that He wanted Solomon to do it instead. Solomon was called to build the temple. David set aside his desires and commissioned Solomon to do the task God had for him.

It’s obvious that David’s desire to please the Lord took precedence over his thoughts about what he wanted to do. What I see in chapters 22 and 23 is that rather than washing his hands of the temple project, David did many things to be supportive of Solomon’s God-given task. He gave material, emotional and spiritual backing. I don’t think I can even begin to fathom fully how much David offered to Solomon in the form of building materials, but he had saved things up for the temple and handed them over for Solomon to use. David spoke to Solomon, commissioning him to do that which the Lord had said…to build the temple. At this time, David also offered prayer/wise words to Solomon. He prayed that the Lord would give direction and understanding so that Solomon would keep God’s laws. David goes on to explain how that would play out. The keeping of God’s laws would give Solomon success. David also offered words of encouragement and wisdom-be strong and courageous not afraid or discouraged.

These verses challenge me to be a support to those to whom God has given a task. Just as David wasn’t called to do everything, neither am I. I need to do the tasks God has for me and then support others in the things God has for them to do. That means relationships with others is crucial. It is through spending time with people, talking of the deeper and more meaningful things in their lives that I can be a spiritual, emotional, and material support to others who have something to do for God.

Help me to clearly know where you are leading me so that my time is used for your glory and honor. Thank you for making my life so meaningful by giving me the chance to have a part in things that are eternal. You are so good!