Month: March 2012

Well, Redding has decided it’s time for Winter.  We’ve be spoiled with sunny days for much of the so called winter and this week the forecast says one thing… RAIN.

And I am actually ok with it…  I think it can be a good reminder to just sit and be with Him.  Life can get so full that even quiet times have to be scheduled in, but I am pretty sure God also enjoys the moments where in the midst of life we just stop and sit with Him.

Most of us have been around toddlers at some point or another, and I think we would all agree that they are busy.  The world has recently become theirs and they’ve got exploring to do.  I don’t know about you, but the moments when the toddlers in my life stop for a moment and crawl in my lap are some of my favorites.  The other night I was watching a friends kids and for a few minutes they both sat in my lap in an oversized recliner while we read books.  My heart was so full and all seemed well with the world.

I can’t help but wonder, does the Lord feel the same.  Oh, the delight He takes as He watches us go throughout our days, but does His heart melt when we take a moment to just simply be with Him.

Yesterday I took a moment to do this, and turned to Psalm 139…

Here are a few things I think we can learn from David-

If you ever feel like you aren’t “known” let me remind you…

You have searched me, LORD, 
   and you know me. (1)

If you ever feel like you aren’t “seen” let me remind you…

You know when I sit and when I rise; 
   you perceive my thoughts from afar. 
You discern my going out and my lying down; 
   you are familiar with all my ways. (2-3)

If you ever feel alone let me remind you…

You hem me in behind and before, 
   and you lay your hand upon me. 

 Where can I go from your Spirit? 
   Where can I flee from your presence? 
 If I go up to the heavens, you are there; 
   if I make my bed in the depths, you are there. 
If I rise on the wings of the dawn, 
   if I settle on the far side of the sea, 
even there your hand will guide me, 
   your right hand will hold me fast. (5, 7-10)

If you ever feel like your life was an accident, let me remind you…

 For you created my inmost being; 
   you knit me together in my mother’s womb. 

 I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; 

   your works are wonderful, 
   I know that full well. 
 My frame was not hidden from you 
   when I was made in the secret place, 
   when I was woven together in the depths of the earth. 
 Your eyes saw my unformed body; 
   all the days ordained for me were written in your book 
   before one of them came to be. (13-16)

You are seen.

You are known.

You are wanted.

So although the rain isn’t so good for my hair, it’s really good for my heart.

 

May your day be filled with the awareness of Him.  May your Spirit be strengthened as you realize more and more the delight He takes in you.

“Why, my soul, are you downcast? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Savior and my God.”  Psalm 42:5

Three times in chapter 42 and 43 of Psalms, David commands himself to put his hope in God.  The man after God’s own heart recognized the he needed to command himself to apply truth in order for his emotional state to change.  He was well aware that truth in the innermost parts brings about the external change we often long for.

I’ve been on a journey of pursuing hope for myself, my relationships, and my future.  Often my emotions are screaming at me telling me that they define my reality, and the truth comes in the form of that gentle whisper.

A while back I was laying in bed worrying, ahem I mean thinking, about the future.  I felt the Lord say to me, “Anna the difference between you fearing the unknown and embracing mystery is wrapped up in how you see my as your Father.”

I thought back to being a kid.  I was quite carefree and struggle to remember moments of worry.   I was challenged to a place of childlikeness and expectation.

What if we get exactly what we hope, dream, or expect?

Somewhere along the journey we can loose the ability to dream, and replace it with a fear of disappointment.  We let fear of disappointment silence our hearts desires.

Psalms 84:11 says, “he withholds no good thing from those whose walk is blameless.”  If you feel He’s withholding something, chances are it’s actually protection because He has something better for you.

Our focus should be His character, His goodness rather than our circumstances.

“Then you will look and be radiant,

your heart will throb and swell with joy;

the wealth on the seas will be brought to you,
to you the riches of the nations will come. ”

Isaiah 60:5

He wants our hearts to throb and swell with joy.  He wants our emotions to be stirred to the place of happiness and excitement!!  Think of Christmas morning, does a parent hope that their child saunters down the stairs in a calm, cool, collected manner to open their presents?  No parents  take great joy in seeing their children race down the stairs with a smile bigger than life and excitement impossible to contain!

This Monday morning, I pray that we are awakened to the reality that He is a really good Father who loves to give His kids gifts.  I pray that our hope (confident expectation of good) is stirred to a new place.    I pray that dreams are released and we will walk in new revelation of what it means to embrace the mystery.  I pray that we realize to deeper levels just how good He really is!