Back to the Light

O LORD, how long will you forget me? Forever?

How long will you look the other way?

How long must I struggle with anguish in my soul,

with sorrow in my heart every day?

How long will my enemy have the upper hand?

Turn and answer me, O LORD my God!

Restore the sparkle to my eyes, or I will die.

Psalm 13:1-3

Have you ever felt this way? Can you relate to David's words, to the desperate feelings of despair, pain, and hopelessness? Perhaps you are there now. Perhaps you will be tomorrow. Life is full of the unplanned and unexpected--the good, difficult, and more difficult. It can be hard to understand why things happen, especially if you are striving for and even praying for the opposite.

When things don't go the way we plan, it's easy to believe God has forgotten us and to feel alone. It makes the most sense to our logical minds. It's hard to believe God is near when we feel defeated, overwhelmed, or confused. But it's also during these times when we can depend on Him the most. In Psalm 13, David doesn't only express how he feels, because he knows his feelings can be misleading; He also says what he believes, in spite of his circumstances:

But I trust in your unfailing love.

I will rejoice because you have rescued me.

I will sing to the LORD

because he is good to me.

Psalm 13:5-6

David is honest about how he feels, and we should be too, but he doesn't stop there. He turns the corner from despair to hope, from the lies to the truth, from unbelief to belief. In Paul's letter to the Colossians, he reminded them of an important truth about God: He has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves. (Col. 1:13 NIV) Why did he remind them? Because he wanted them to live above their circumstances. He wanted them to remember who they were. We know from Paul's opening words he was writing to those who were faithful and holy followers of Christ. He praised them for their faith and the love they had for others, and he knew they were capable of pleasing Him in every way, having great endurance and patience, and being joyfully thankful for the inheritance of this kingdom of light.

But they, like David, probably didn't always feel that way. I'm sure they felt defeated at times, scared, sinful, discouraged, overwhelmed, disappointed, forgotten; So Paul reminded them of the truth. He reminded them they were forgiven. He reminded them God would strengthen them. He reminded them Jesus holds everything together. He reminded them Christ lived within them. That was their reality. Not shame. Not despair. Not abandonment. But life, love, rescue, peace, and joy.

We pray that you will be strengthened with all his glorious power so you will have all the endurance and patience you need. May you be filled with joy, always thanking the Father.

Colossians 1:11-1
 

Have you experienced God's rescue? His power? The joy only He can bring? Do you believe it's a real thing? Do you believe He is with you, holding everything together--holding you together? Do you believe, like David did, that God is good and you are the object of His affection; His Beloved; His precious daughter? Let Him restore the sparkle to your eye. Ask Him to fill your heart with hope, belief, strength, endurance, joy, and thankfulness. He will rescue you from the darkness and bring you back to the light.

He has brought you into his own presence, and you are holy and blameless as you stand before him without a single fault. But you must continue to believe this truth and stand firmly in it. Don't drift away from the assurance you received when you heard the Good News.

Colossians 1:22-23

Unless otherwise indicated, Scripture taken from the NLT.
Girl photo courtesy of freeimages.com
Sunrise photo by Cindy Riggs. © 2017. Used by permission. Al rights reserved.

The Good Shepherd

Shout for joy to the LORD, all the earth.

Worship the LORD with gladness;

Come before him with joyful songs.

Know that the LORD is God.

It is he who made us and we are his;

We are his people, the sheep of his pasture.

Enter his gates with thanksgiving

and his courts with praise;

Give thanks to him and praise his name.

For the LORD is good,

and his love endures forever;

His faithfulness continues through all generations.

Psalm 100

Have you ever thought about your emotions being directly tied to how you see God and how He sees you? We are often driven by our emotions. This can be a good thing or a bad thing. How would you describe your current mood?

How you feel might be a result of what happened today or recently, what you are looking forward to, or what you are dreading. You might be over the moon with joy or excitement, or you might be in the depths of despair. Most of the time we live in between the two extremes, but how we feel is often tied to our circumstances. How is your mood today affected by what is currently happening in your life?

Living this way makes life feel like a roller-coaster. One day we're up, another we're down. This week is great, but the next might be terrible. We might make good or poor choices to contribute to the way we feel, or the actions of others might be a factor, but either way it's an unstable foundation. Psalm 100 provides a new way, a better way. Are you interested?

Shout for joy to the LORD, all the earth.

Worship the LORD with gladness;

Come before him with joyful songs.

First of all, it's about choosing joy. Notice it doesn't say, 'Shout for joy when you feel like it, when things are good, when you have no reason to be sad or angry or frustrated.' It just says, 'Shout for joy, worship with gladness, and come before him with joy.' This requires us to see God a certain way. The next verse tells us how.

Know that the LORD is God.

It is he who made us, and we are his;

We are his people, the sheep of his pasture.

How you see God and how you believe He sees you are critical to how you feel and your ability to choose joy no matter what else is going on in your life. Thinking again about your current mood and how your circumstances are affecting that, how does bringing God into your thoughts change things? If the change is for the better, you likely have a proper view of God, and yourself as His beloved child. You only need to keep the truth close to your heart. But if thinking about God makes it worse--you're angry or feel abandoned, then your view of God needs an adjustment.

This might sound overly simple, but God is God, and He is your God. He is with you and will help you. He calls Himself the Good Shepherd, and we are His sheep. Visualize yourself as a part of His flock. What does a shepherd do? Cares for the sheep, meets their needs, protects them, guides them. If one wanders off, He goes after it. Even sin and mistakes don't disqualify you from His love and perfect care, but believing in His presence can make a radical difference.

Believing these things will change the way you feel. Faith in His love and expecting good things from God will improve your mood. Joy and peace can come when you don't think they can.

Go ahead, try it. Begin and finish each day with belief, praise, and thanksgiving, and see where that daily practice leads you and affects your outlook.

Enter his gates with thanksgiving

and his courts with praise;

Give thanks to him and praise his name.

For the LORD is good,

and his love endures forever;

His faithfulness continues through all generations.

Blessed is She who Believes

"My soul glorifies the Lord and my soul rejoices in God my Savior, for he has been mindful of the humble state of his servant. From now on all generations will call me blessed, for the Mighty One has done great things for me--holy is his name."

Luke 1:46-49

As I write these words, they bring me much peace. You could say the author of them knew how to look at the glass as half-full, rather than half-empty. The times and circumstances in which they were spoken were difficult and filled with uncertainty. Any idea who said them? I'll give you a hint, they come from Luke 1. That rules out Moses, David, and the prophets of the Old Testament, along with Jesus since He isn't born until chapter 2.

They are spoken by Mary, the mother of Jesus, who was most likely still a teenager at the time. She had just received the news that she was going to be the mother of the Messiah. Great news, right? Well, except for the fact she wasn't married and only had a disappearing angel to vouch for her claim to virginity. I can hear her parents now: "You saw an angel, and he said what?"

She had a reason to be freaked-out and takes off to visit her older--much older cousin. I'm sure Elizabeth was someone she loved and trusted or she wouldn't have gone to her, but she probably wasn't expecting to be greeted with such excitement.

"Blessed are you among women, Mary, and blessed is the child you will bear!"

"How do you know?"

"Oh, the baby told me," Elizabeth laughed, patting her own rounded belly with her wrinkled hand. "Blessed is she who has believed that the Lord would fulfill his promises to her!"

Mary may not have believed her cousin except Lizzy's story of having a baby in her old age was just as crazy, and she needed to hear those words: "Blessed is she who believes."

The bad news? It can be difficult to believe. And it can be more difficult to believe we are blessed for believing.

But the good news? Faith is all about believing the unbelievable. Mary may not have known what was going to happen next, but faith isn't about knowing what is going to happen, it's about knowing that whatever happens will be good when God is involved. It's not about what you know, but Who you know.

"My soul glorifies the Lord and my soul rejoices in God my Savior, for he has been mindful of the humble state of his servant. From now on all generations will call me blessed, for the Mighty One has done great things for me--holy is his name."

Mary spoke these words long before her pregnancy was visible, before she safely delivered Jesus in a lowly stable, before He began sharing the Good News of Salvation for all, before He was crucified and rose from the dead to seal the promise of Eternal Life. But she knew God had already done great things for her and that He would again. She knew that goodness would touch others too. She knew His ways were always perfect, even when it was difficult to see.

Mary and I have never met. Mary lived in a different time-period, a different country, and a different culture. But we know the same God: The LORD. Yahweh. Jehovah. The Mighty One who has done great things for me. Holy is His Name.

It's like the seasons that change faithfully from year to year. Whether you live where the colors of leaves change and fall to the ground to protect the trees from a cold winter, or where the monsoons come at the same time each year, or where it simply becomes warmer or cooler, you know what's coming because nature is so consistent. God designed it this way to display His character, to remind us that whatever may be changing around us, whatever storms come our way, whatever surprises and unpredictable situations arise, that we can count on Him to always bring the calmer times, the blessings in disguise, and the obvious signs of His faithfulness.

Others can say that God doesn't...or God won't...or God can't. But God will always show who He is and what He can do. He will always keep His promises. God is always who He is whether we believe it or not. He is mighty, holy, amazing, awesome, powerful, loving, merciful, good, right, and just.

He wants us to recognize and believe Him for our benefit so we can have confidence, peace, hope, joy, and patience. Like Mary did. She believed because of what she heard God say, not because of what she could see.

I'm sure she had her moments of doubt too. Perhaps when she did, she sang these words penned by her ancestor David. We would be blessed to do the same:

"Hear my cry, O God; listen to my prayer. From the ends of the earth I call to you, I call as my heart grows faint; lead me to the rock that is higher than I. For you have been my refuge, a strong tower against the foe. I long to dwell in your tent forever and take refuge in the shelter of your wings."

Psalm 61:1-4

Unless otherwise noted, story and Scripture taken from Luke 1:5-49, NIV. Paraphrases mine.