Good evening! I have been reading a couple of Psalms that are so close to my heart. I am talking about Psalm 91 and 121. They both talk about looking for our help in life and how to maintain peace in the midst of it all. Life is sometimes just plain crazy, right? I remember back to three years ago at this time. My husband was between jobs and the uncertainty had me on the verge of a meltdown some days. One day I was going through a box in the basement and came across a gem while looking for something else. It was a little cross-stitch bookmark from my childhood. It said, "Sometimes God calms the storm and sometimes He lets the storm rage and calms his child." I was frozen upon reading that and then began to weep. Those words did not mean much to me in my childhood but finding them at this exact moment was EXACTLY what I needed. This piece hung in my kitchen for 2 years. Then last summer I had a friend here to visit. She was in the middle of many awful storms in her life... battling cancer for the 5th or 6th time, dealing with a disintegrating marriage, trying to make decisions with how to approach her son's needs, etc. I took this bookmark out of my kitchen and handed it to her. She took it home and keeps it in a special place.
Back to Psalm 121. My Mom painted these words on a rock when I was a teenager. Ever since that time, I have always loved pausing to read this scripture on my way over to the barn. The text is especially meaningful since their farm is nestled within the side of a hill.
Psalm 121
"I lift up my eyes to the mountains—
where does my help come from?
2 My help comes from the Lord,
the Maker of heaven and earth.
where does my help come from?
2 My help comes from the Lord,
the Maker of heaven and earth.
3 He will not let your foot slip—
he who watches over you will not slumber;
4 indeed, he who watches over Israel
will neither slumber nor sleep.
he who watches over you will not slumber;
4 indeed, he who watches over Israel
will neither slumber nor sleep.
5 The Lord watches over you—
the Lord is your shade at your right hand;
6 the sun will not harm you by day,
nor the moon by night.
the Lord is your shade at your right hand;
6 the sun will not harm you by day,
nor the moon by night.
7 The Lord will keep you from all harm—
he will watch over your life;
8 the Lord will watch over your coming and going
both now and forevermore."
he will watch over your life;
8 the Lord will watch over your coming and going
both now and forevermore."
Psalm 91
"Whoever dwells in the shelter of the Most High
will rest in the shadow of the Almighty.
2 I will say of the Lord, “He is my refuge and my fortress,
my God, in whom I trust.”
will rest in the shadow of the Almighty.
2 I will say of the Lord, “He is my refuge and my fortress,
my God, in whom I trust.”
3 Surely he will save you
from the fowler’s snare
and from the deadly pestilence.
4 He will cover you with his feathers,
and under his wings you will find refuge;
his faithfulness will be your shield and rampart.
5 You will not fear the terror of night,
nor the arrow that flies by day,
6 nor the pestilence that stalks in the darkness,
nor the plague that destroys at midday.
7 A thousand may fall at your side,
ten thousand at your right hand,
but it will not come near you.
8 You will only observe with your eyes
and see the punishment of the wicked.
from the fowler’s snare
and from the deadly pestilence.
4 He will cover you with his feathers,
and under his wings you will find refuge;
his faithfulness will be your shield and rampart.
5 You will not fear the terror of night,
nor the arrow that flies by day,
6 nor the pestilence that stalks in the darkness,
nor the plague that destroys at midday.
7 A thousand may fall at your side,
ten thousand at your right hand,
but it will not come near you.
8 You will only observe with your eyes
and see the punishment of the wicked.
9 If you say, “The Lord is my refuge,”
and you make the Most High your dwelling,
10 no harm will overtake you,
no disaster will come near your tent.
11 For he will command his angels concerning you
to guard you in all your ways;
12 they will lift you up in their hands,
so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.
13 You will tread on the lion and the cobra;
you will trample the great lion and the serpent.
and you make the Most High your dwelling,
10 no harm will overtake you,
no disaster will come near your tent.
11 For he will command his angels concerning you
to guard you in all your ways;
12 they will lift you up in their hands,
so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.
13 You will tread on the lion and the cobra;
you will trample the great lion and the serpent.
14 “Because he loves me,” says the Lord, “I will rescue him;
I will protect him, for he acknowledges my name.
15 He will call on me, and I will answer him;
I will be with him in trouble,
I will deliver him and honor him.
16 With long life I will satisfy him
and show him my salvation.”
I will protect him, for he acknowledges my name.
15 He will call on me, and I will answer him;
I will be with him in trouble,
I will deliver him and honor him.
16 With long life I will satisfy him
and show him my salvation.”
Something that always comes to mind whenever I ponder these Psalms is that we spend our time anxiously looking around for our help. Meanwhile, if we will just stay close to the Lord, we will be in his shadow and THAT is where we find rest. Why do I so frequently head out on some safari while looking for solutions in my life? The key is to keep myself in a place where I can say what I find in Psalm 91:2 ~ “He is my refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust.” This past Sunday I heard something at church that has been on my heart these past few days...
This connects with one of my all-time favorite Scripture passages. It also reminds me that God is seeking us. We just have to PAUSE and reach out for Him. There are many times in my life where I have been asked how I keep my perspective and find meaning in the midst of it all? When you break it all down, what really matters? And how do we approach everyday life with this in mind? Read through these words. Once we had the kids in bed this evening, I made myself STOP and read through this passage a few times. How amazing is this?? THIS IS IT! This is the story of our lives. There IS a master plan.
Acts 17:22-31
"Paul then stood up in the meeting of the Areopagus and said: “People of Athens! I see that in every way you are very religious. 23 For as I walked around and looked carefully at your objects of worship, I even found an altar with this inscription: to an unknown god. So you are ignorant of the very thing you worship—and this is what I am going to proclaim to you.
24 “The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples built by human hands. 25 And he is not served by human hands, as if he needed anything. Rather, he himself gives everyone life and breath and everything else. 26 From one man he made all the nations, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he marked out their appointed times in history and the boundaries of their lands. 27 God did this so that they would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from any one of us. 28 ‘For in him we live and move and have our being.’As some of your own poets have said, ‘We are his offspring.’
29 “Therefore since we are God’s offspring, we should not think that the divine being is like gold or silver or stone—an image made by human design and skill. 30 In the past God overlooked such ignorance, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent. 31 For he has set a day when he will judge the world with justice by the man he has appointed. He has given proof of this to everyone by raising him from the dead.”
There is one blog that I read often. Ann Voskamp has the gift of helping us to PAUSE long enough to take in His grace in the midst of our everyday life. The entry from this past Friday was about "Why Your Heart Really Needs the Practice of Pondering".
My biggest takeaway from this entry is the following:
"Jesus took a body: “The Word became flesh” (Jn. 1:14). Now He calls us to let the Word of Christ be incarnated in us. The Word of Christ living in us reminds us that we are forgiven and must forgive others; that Christ lives in us to express His life to us and through us; that we are new creatures, beloved of God, bought with a price and not our own.
This indwelling Word keeps setting the trash by the door, keeps throwing open the windows to let in fresh air, and keeps leaving notes on the bathroom mirror—reminders to love, to trust, to give generously, to speak kindly. The effect of Scripture is not distant, abstract. It is personal and deeply relevant: “in you.”
In closing, I wanted to share an OLD photo! This was taken many years ago. This cross is located up near the corner of one of the pastures at my parents' farm. Dear family friends (the Mosebargers and Matangelos) who greatly impacted my youth had come for a visit to the farm. I will never forget the experience of growing up in an environment where real conversation took place. The adults in my life shared their lives and faith with one another. These are people who were living Psalm 91:1 ~ "Whoever dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty."
"Jesus took a body: “The Word became flesh” (Jn. 1:14). Now He calls us to let the Word of Christ be incarnated in us. The Word of Christ living in us reminds us that we are forgiven and must forgive others; that Christ lives in us to express His life to us and through us; that we are new creatures, beloved of God, bought with a price and not our own.
This indwelling Word keeps setting the trash by the door, keeps throwing open the windows to let in fresh air, and keeps leaving notes on the bathroom mirror—reminders to love, to trust, to give generously, to speak kindly. The effect of Scripture is not distant, abstract. It is personal and deeply relevant: “in you.”
In closing, I wanted to share an OLD photo! This was taken many years ago. This cross is located up near the corner of one of the pastures at my parents' farm. Dear family friends (the Mosebargers and Matangelos) who greatly impacted my youth had come for a visit to the farm. I will never forget the experience of growing up in an environment where real conversation took place. The adults in my life shared their lives and faith with one another. These are people who were living Psalm 91:1 ~ "Whoever dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty."
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