Psalm 57
Be merciful to me, O God, be merciful to me, for in you my soul takes refuge; in the shadow of your wings I will take refuge, till the storms of destruction pass by. I cry out to God Most High, to God who fulfills his purpose for me. He will send from heaven and save me. God will send out his steadfast love and his faithfulness! Be exalted, O God, above the heavens! Let your glory be over all the earth! My heart is steadfast, O God, my heart is steadfast! I will sing and make melody! Awake, my glory! Awake, O harp and lyre! I will awake the dawn! I will give thanks to you, O Lord, among the peoples; I will sing praises to you among the nations. For your steadfast love is great to the heavens, your faithfulness to the clouds. Be exalted, O God, above the heavens! Let your glory be over all the earth!
I started out looking for God in the
things I was seeing. I thought – I have
to see God in a more profound way than yesterday. “God, show me what I need to see”. “Go away, gnat, you are messing up my
worship!”. I swatted it, swung at it,
finally I clapped my hands over it and killed it. Now, back to God.
I turned my phone on the
Psalms. I listened as the reader read through
a couple of chapters of Psalms. I walked
slowly looking and listening for God. “Stupid
gnat, I killed your friend – go away!”
So obnoxious, but eventually, that one went the way of the first.
I turned off the phone, and began
talking and singing to God. I am in dire
straits here God, I need you. I have so
much I need to learn, areas that I need to grow in, pain in my heart that I
wish was not there, and You are the answer.
Help me!
Then I saw it – a pair of beautiful wings on the ground. Apparently, the moth had died but the wings were left. This has got to me my “God moment” today. I picked them up and cleaned them off. For the next 15 minutes or so, I walked with them looking at their beauty, frailness, texture, complexity, simplicity… there is much to be said about the creation and design of these wings. But obviously that was a lesson for another day because…
“I cannot believe it – these gnats
are annoying! Seriously, I don’t
remember any gnats yesterday – why are you bothering me today? Why are you messing up my time with God?” Then it hit me.
Life is just like my walk
today. Moment by moment I never know
what is in front of me. I am surrounded
by beauty. I am surrounded by God’s
creation, glory, creativity, power, love… but I am constantly bombarded by
other things that take my attention away from God. Sometimes they are annoyances – pain in life,
frustration, irritation, hardships, etc.
But other times they are “good things”, love for my wife, love for my
children/grandchildren, ministry, “worship”, etc.
Whether annoyance or pleasure, seemingly
“bad things” or “good things”, anything that takes my attention away from God
is just a gnat that needs to be squashed in my life. Seeing God in the bad things of life, seeing
God in the good things of life is what He has designed life to be.
I should look for God in my
relationships, my service, my work, my play, my singing, my headaches, my
heartaches, my pain… God is in it
all. If I keep my eyes on Jesus, I will
be able to say with the Psalmist, “I cry out to God Most High, to God who
fulfills his purpose for me. He will
send from heaven and save me.” He will
show me His purpose in both the good and bad times of life. In the hardship, He will save me. In the good times, He will remind me of His
steadfast love and glory!
Great walk today – I look forward to
walking with God again tomorrow…
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