Nevertheless, I am continually with you;
you hold my right hand.
You guide me with your counsel,
and afterward you will receive me to glory.
Whom have I in heaven but you?
And there is nothing on earth that I desire besides you.
My flesh and my heart may fail,
but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.
For behold, those who are far from you shall perish;
you put an end to everyone who is unfaithful to you.
But for me it is good to be near God;
I have made the Lord GOD my refuge,
that I may tell of all your works.
(Psalm 73:23-28 ESV)
For more context, read all of Psalm 73...I just pasted the last part of it. How beautiful is this picture?! He guides us with His counsel and holds our right hand. I love the picture of our Father in heaven holding our right hand like a Dad holds his 3 year old's little hand. The child has no idea where the Father is leading him, but he doesn't really care, does he? What he cares about is the fact that he's being held by his Dad. There's a sense of overwhelming security in that sentence. He holds our right hand...He's leading us. And we rarely trust Him with that...doesn't that sound so strange? It's as if the 3 year old pulls his hand away and says, "Dad, are you SURE you want to go that way? Because I've been thinking about it, and this way seems more enjoyable." Paul uses a Greek word in Ephesians that means "poem" to describe who we are to God. We are his poem...so, once again, it'd be like a poem saying to its author, "I'm not sure you know what you're doing...Are you SURE that line is in Iambic Pentameter?" Or something like that.
"There is nothing on earth that I desire besides you." Nothing compares to Him. Most of us have probably said/sung something like that before. If you like David Crowder even a little bit, you've probably sung it many times..."There is no one like you, there has never ever been anyone like you." But what does that look like in our lives? If nothing compares to Him, then why do we idolize things? Why do I look in the mirror more times than I pray in a day? Why do I worry more than ask Him to grow me in faith (Phil. 4:6-7)? Why do I choose to watch an episode of How I Met Your Mother over reading about Him? It's because I can sing the words all I want but still not be changed. The truth is that we desire a LOT more things than God most of the time. But God has the power and the patience to help us change that little by little (and it doesn't happen overnight). Sanctification, homies! Tough word to understand...tough process to go through.
The sentence that gets me the most is this, "My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever." We all fail...none of us is perfect. I may try REALLY hard to make you think I'm perfect, but I'm the farthest thing from it. I'm a whitewashed tomb full of unclean things (Matt. 23:27). But though I fall short, God is my strength. I think it's cool that the psalm writer says it this way. He says his flesh fails, but God is his portion. His heart fails, but God is the strength of his heart. God takes care of both of those shortcomings! He fills us to the point where we overflow! He is truly all we need.
Wow, God is good. My prayer is that God is speaking (now and continually) through His word straight to your heart these days. This passage really hit me yesterday, and I love those moments when all you can say is, "Wow." Being speechless isn't a bad thing...it's a good thing, actually. We talk too much (kind of like what I'm doing right now!). Psalm 46:10 says, "Be still, and know that I am God." Give Him a chance to speak to you. God is faithful.
Is there something in the above passage that speaks to you?
Wednesday, January 26, 2011
Sunday, January 16, 2011
First Ever Blog Entry (and maybe the last, depending on how it goes)
Okay, so I've been pretty negative about blogs for a while now. My friend (you know who you are) has been bugging me for a while to get me to write one, but I've resisted until now. I've always seen blogs as a very potentially selfish thing, where the writer writes these amazing and life-altering things in order to impress people. I still think that goes on today, but the reason I've decided to do this is because I came to the conclusion that it doesn't have to be that way. I follow 2 blogs, and they've been extremely helpful in my personal walk with God and in my journey as a worship leader.
So I came to the conclusion that I will write so that God can use the words He gives me however He wants. If something I'm struggling with can encourage someone else, this blog is worth it. But if it turns into a Katie show, it will end. Katie shows never really end well...because God isn't glorified through them.
Anyway, so that is my pre-blog disclaimer, I guess. My prayer is that God will teach us (you as the reader and me as the writer) through this whole...blog...thing.
So I was driving to drop my best friend, Beka, off at her car after having lunch with some friends (Salmon Tempura Roll...mmm), and we were talking about how living in Brownwood has been a tough journey. She's lived here since graduating in May of 2008, and I've lived here since graduating in May of 2010. All of the sudden, I had this thought which came out as, "I'm tired of people leaving me." We talked about how living in Brownwood post-grad is tough because most of your college friends move away and begin exciting jobs and marriages and so on, and we are...still here. Homecoming kind of loses it's excitement when you're not the one coming home. It's more like Homestaying. The only thing exciting about it is that all of your long lost friends come into town.
I have these moments I affectionately call pity parties when I just want to feel sorry for myself and become overwhelmed with how lonely or frustrated I feel with the position in which God has me. Most of my college friends are gone, and I don't get to talk to them often at all, my roommate just got married and moved away, I've been called to a position in our church that I never thought I'd be in, and the list goes on (that's why it's called a pity party). So the question I finally get to is, "Why is everyone leaving me? And why do things have to change??" And the word "crap" is probably in there somewhere...I just really like that word. Oh, and by the way, they're not leaving ME...they're just leaving. Why do I have to make it about me so often? Yuck.
Well, God had an answer for me, and if you feel like you're in the same boat, He has an answer for you. While everything is changing around you, while your friends are moving on to the things God has for them, while loved ones are dying and jobs are ending, while nothing is stable, God is our stability. Can I say that again? Of course I can, it's my blog. :) GOD IS OUR STABILITY. He is ALWAYS there. He does not move away. He never leaves us...we leave Him. I don't think Isaiah 40 can ever be overused. Isaiah 40:28 says:
28Have you not known? Have you not heard?The LORD is(A) the everlasting God,
the Creator of the ends of the earth.
He does not faint or grow weary;
(B) his understanding is unsearchable.
God is everlasting, and He is enough. That is all I need to hear to be comforted. May we all find comfort in the fact that God is with us always, and may we share that with those around us who feel abandoned and alone.
So I came to the conclusion that I will write so that God can use the words He gives me however He wants. If something I'm struggling with can encourage someone else, this blog is worth it. But if it turns into a Katie show, it will end. Katie shows never really end well...because God isn't glorified through them.
Anyway, so that is my pre-blog disclaimer, I guess. My prayer is that God will teach us (you as the reader and me as the writer) through this whole...blog...thing.
So I was driving to drop my best friend, Beka, off at her car after having lunch with some friends (Salmon Tempura Roll...mmm), and we were talking about how living in Brownwood has been a tough journey. She's lived here since graduating in May of 2008, and I've lived here since graduating in May of 2010. All of the sudden, I had this thought which came out as, "I'm tired of people leaving me." We talked about how living in Brownwood post-grad is tough because most of your college friends move away and begin exciting jobs and marriages and so on, and we are...still here. Homecoming kind of loses it's excitement when you're not the one coming home. It's more like Homestaying. The only thing exciting about it is that all of your long lost friends come into town.
I have these moments I affectionately call pity parties when I just want to feel sorry for myself and become overwhelmed with how lonely or frustrated I feel with the position in which God has me. Most of my college friends are gone, and I don't get to talk to them often at all, my roommate just got married and moved away, I've been called to a position in our church that I never thought I'd be in, and the list goes on (that's why it's called a pity party). So the question I finally get to is, "Why is everyone leaving me? And why do things have to change??" And the word "crap" is probably in there somewhere...I just really like that word. Oh, and by the way, they're not leaving ME...they're just leaving. Why do I have to make it about me so often? Yuck.
Well, God had an answer for me, and if you feel like you're in the same boat, He has an answer for you. While everything is changing around you, while your friends are moving on to the things God has for them, while loved ones are dying and jobs are ending, while nothing is stable, God is our stability. Can I say that again? Of course I can, it's my blog. :) GOD IS OUR STABILITY. He is ALWAYS there. He does not move away. He never leaves us...we leave Him. I don't think Isaiah 40 can ever be overused. Isaiah 40:28 says:
28Have you not known? Have you not heard?The LORD is(A) the everlasting God,
the Creator of the ends of the earth.
He does not faint or grow weary;
(B) his understanding is unsearchable.
God is everlasting, and He is enough. That is all I need to hear to be comforted. May we all find comfort in the fact that God is with us always, and may we share that with those around us who feel abandoned and alone.
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