Seeing Something New Here

 

You who have made me see

     many troubles and calamities

             will revive me again.

From the depths of the earth,

  You will bring me up again.

                 Psalm 71. 20

(These hard places

    are not intended to take us down,

     but to build us up,

to strengthen us

    by knowing Him more.

God never promised

         life would be easy,

but "I am with you.

       Do not be afraid."

God is doing a mighty work

       in each of us

and is not done yet,

preparing, equipping,

strengthening,

and covering us with His glory.)

O LORD,

Through many rocky places

          on our paths,

we have come to know You

  and rely on You all the more.

We just cannot yet see

    the other side of this.

You empower us

     with Your steadfast love.

In all we cannot understand,

   You build even more our trust in You.

Our hope is not based on wishful thinking,

       nor in favorable circumstances

                   but in You.

You are not about

       to abandon us now,

but bring Your glory

    even to the scorched places.

Thinking Differently

 

For My thoughts

      are not your thoughts,

neither are your ways

      My ways,

          declares the LORD.

For as the heavens are higher

     than the earth,

so are My ways higher

          than your ways

and My thoughts

       than your thoughts.

              Isaiah 55. 8-9

(Has it occurred to me

that God thinks very differently

     about this situation?

God has far deeper purposes,

   far beyond what

           I can possibly comprehend,

   way more profound

      than I can imagine or control.

Some things I may

            not ever understand,

because God is God

                 and I am not.

God's goodness and love are

  far greater than I can grasp.)

O LORD,

We may not understand Your ways

     or what You are doing,

but we can trust You

          and be faithful.

There is more to this situation

    than we will ever be aware.

Help us to walk with You

         in it and through it.

Hold us in the palm of Your hand.

We witness Your glory

      even in the incomprehensible,

we know Your deep love

     even in the really hard stuff.

Reveal to us

              Your way in this.

Make My Day

 

The Lord GOD has given me

the tongue of those

who are taught,

that I may know how to sustain

with a word

          him who is weary.

                    Isaiah 50. 4

(Each one of us

              always

has the opportunity,

power,

ability,

and the gift of encouragement.

We can never know

         how powerfully

         God uses our words.

Walk with Him.

He will point out

      who to encourage today.

And that would be

     everyone on our paths.)

O LORD,

Help us to love others

     by encouraging them.

Empower us to

     embed courage in others.

And to know that You multiply

   those words

in ways we may never see.

Show us what to say,

   reveal to us how

       to plant sequoias

even in the desert.

You Can't Touch Me

 

Rebuke the beasts

   that dwell among the reeds.

 

               Psalm 68. 30

 

(All those fears take on

           scary disguises,

all those worries grow

           into frightful anxieties,

all those unknowns appear

    as fire-breathing dragons.

They rustle around

           where we cannot see them

   and make a lot of threatening noise,

but they do not have power over us.

Trusting in God defeats our foes,

            both real and imagined.

How would we approach this day

     differently

     if we walked with Him through it?)

 

O LORD,

We all struggle with something.

But You, O Lord,

        walk with us,

granting to us Your wisdom

         and strength

and the courage to

      bring Your name

      into whatever we face.

You are with us.

Help us to live that way today.

          

Now Watch This!

Remember not the former things,

nor consider the things of old.

Behold, I am doing a new thing;

now it springs forth,

    do you not perceive it?

I will make a way in the wilderness

             and rivers in the desert.

                       Isaiah 43. 18-19

(Do not allow the past to define you

             or trip you up.

Know that God redeems.

A new path will spring up

    in unlikely places

    and among impossible people,

and even as we are faithful

                 in the familiar.

Same circumstances,

           a new path through.

You whisper to us,

         "Now watch this.")

O LORD,

You provide a way

    where there seems to be no way,

over and over again,

    a deliverance,

    an exit door,

but even more Your strength,

  not just to endure

  but to bring Your name

        and Your glory here.

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Repeat after Me

"Fear not, for I am with you.

Be not dismayed, for I am your God.

I will strengthen you,

I will help you,

I will uphold you

   with My righteous right hand.

....For I, the LORD your God,

      hold your right hand.

It is I who say to you,

   "Fear not,

     I am the one who helps you."

                     Isaiah 41. 10, 13

(How many times

    and how many ways

does God need to tell us or show us,

  "Do not be afraid.

    I am with you?"

God does not say, "Recite these words,

         or memorize them,

but be incredibly aware of My Presence,

and practice these words over and over.)

O LORD,

Help us to not just be sensitive

           to Your Presence,

but live differently,

      choose differently,

      respond to You with a new heart,

because You abide in us.

You are the Almighty One

   who loves us,

   walks with us always,

and holds our hands.

Sleep Tight

 

…when I remember You

                upon my bed,

and meditate on You

   in the watches of the night.

                 

                      Psalm 63. 6

 

(When worry, fear and anxiety

        wake us in the night,

push them out of bed.

      Fight back

     with prayer and meditation

            and reciting His Word.

Calm our hearts,

     knowing God is with us.

Pray our way

    back into His gentle sleep

    over us.)

 

O LORD,

In the early darkness

   when we cannot sleep,

fill us with Your peace.

Show us how to pray away

       anything that robs us

       of the sleep we need.

Show us when we do need to pray

          at that very moment.

And no matter how many minutes

          or hours awake,

make it enough, O LORD.

We can trust You,

                even in this.

Deep Knee Bends

Strengthen the weak hands,

and make firm the feeble knees.

Say to those who 

               have an anxious heart,

"Be strong!  Fear not!"

                         Isaiah 35. 3-4

(Face this difficult situation

          with a new strength.

Do what we need to do.

     Being anxious is not one of them.

The antidote to anxiety is God's promise:

       "Do not fear.  I am with you." 

We have too much to do

   than to carry 20 pounds of 

   unnecessary anxiety in our backpacks.)

O LORD,

Calm our hearts

and turn our eyes to You.

Help us to trust You

   as You unfold Your strength in us.

Taking the Highway

Lead me to the rock

that is highter than I,

for You have been my refuge,

a strong tower against the enemy.

                    Psalm 61. 2-3

 

(God grants us His strength,

not just to take the high road

   in a relationship or situation,

but to dwell there.

God shows us how to abide like that.

His vision prevails over our own.

His grace unfolds

    an unexpected way through

and the strength to be there.)

O LORD,

Help us to approach and navigate

     the familiar and the difficult

with a fresh heart

    that can only come from You.

Grant to us a new road map

    that leads to Your glory

   in unlikely places.

Even here.  Even in this.

Defeating Our Dragons

 

...and He will slay the dragon...

                Isaiah 27. 1

(We all deal with dragons,

    scary and frightful,

looming in the shadows,

coming suddenly upon us,

tackling our weaknesses

      and magnifying our fears,

      both real and imagined.

God can slay our dragons,

   when we lay them before Him.

He grants us a strength

        that is not our own.

His Presence pushes back

      the darkness.

And He walks with us

     safely past watchful dragons.)

O LORD,

We give to You,

not just this day

    but our fears.

Help us to know

        You are with us.

Help us to know You more.

Show us Your way in this,

  not just to survive,

  but to thrive in You.

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Always Speaking

 

God has spoken

      in His sanctuary.

                       Psalm 60. 6

 

(God does not just exist.

             God is.

          And He has spoken.

All around us,

His majesty is evidenced in creation,

     that which is unexplainable.

The awe every one of us feels

             is a call to worship,

not the amazing creation,

             but the Almighty Creator.

God has spoken.

Are we listening?

He speaks to us in our need.

He encourages us in our struggles.

He sings over us in our joy.)

 

O LORD,

You reveal Yourself to us

          every day

in more ways than we can count,

and in far more ways

              than we even recognize.

The world is Your sanctuary.

And Your voice infiltrates

          to the ends of the earth

          with songs of Your glory.

Help us not just to listen for You,

     but to listen to You

                and respond.