Inspiration and Hope -

I would have despaired unless I believed

Psalm 27-13

I would have despaired, unless I had believed that I would see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. Wait for the Lord, be strong and let your heart take courage. (Psalm 27:13-14)

The psalmist David is easy to identify with. In Psalm 27 he wrote “I really would have given up had I not believed that God is good”. Isn’t it true that most of us would despair also were it not for God who comes to our rescue? Look at the faintheartedness of David: wicked people, enemies, war, trouble, loneliness, and being forsaken, false accusations, and cruelty. I am sure that all of us at times have experienced some of these, and probably can add a few more to the list. A focus such as David’s can also keep us from going to pieces!

Yet, how many of us actually hold on to our troubles and do not wait on the Lord? We allow our worries to stew within us, to go around and around in our heads until we feel choked and strangled by them, yet repeatedly, the Bible tells us not to despair, worry or be anxious. You say, “Well I’m just a worrier. It is in my DNA makeup”. You even worry about nothing at times.

A psychologist, speaking to an audience, used an interesting analogy using a glass of water to make a point about managing stress and worry. Everyone was probably thinking “Oh no, not the half empty, half full glass analogy again”. But as she raised the glass, she asked, “How heavy is this glass of water?” The weight really didn’t matter. “It depends on how long you hold it”, she said. If you hold it for an hour, the glass will appear heavier, and your arm will start to ache. If you hold on to it for a day, you will begin to feel numb and paralyzed in your arm. In each case, the weight of the glass doesn’t change, but the longer you hold on to it, the heavier it becomes. The stresses of life are kind of like the glass of water. The longer you hold on to your negative thoughts and worries, the more fainthearted we get. After a while we can even become paralyzed, and incapable of functioning.

Surmounting opposition and negativity, and not to despair, is difficult at times. I am constantly reminded to “be anxious for nothing, and to fear not”. Still, allowing my mind to be captive to negative thoughts causes me to go around and around again in my head, and I worry. Sometimes I am incapable of hearing God, hearing only the noise in my head that says “if this were someone else, they’d sure be worried, so you should be also. Or if I don’t make ends meet this month, I am not going to be able to pay my bills. Then what? … What if I don’t have this or that? How could I ever be happy again?”

But if we are to ever surmount our faintheartedness and worries, we need to discipline ourselves to earnestly seek God, and practice waiting on Him. Those are times when I must go to God and just say “I give it up to you, Father. I am helpless to know what to do. Take this situation from me and make it yours”. “Turn your burdens over to the LORD, and he will take care of you (Psalm 55:22, GOD’S WORD translation).

“Once we have made up our minds that God’s goodness is in operation, we will have far less difficulty in coping with the events of everyday life. Since He is in control, and since He is a good God, we can relax in His care. The Prophet Isaiah said, ‘Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on Thee, because he trusteth in Thee’ (Isa. 26:3). The way to become convinced of God’s goodness is to spend time with Him. ‘Wait on the Lord . . . and He shall strengthen thine heart.’ Get alone with God, and you’ll get over your fainting spell!” [1].

WAIT FOR THE LORD

FOOTNOTE

[1] Walk with the King, Daily e-Devotional, April 14

I need to remember He’s promised to help

amanda-geisinger-god-call-come-pray-listen-jeremiah-29-12-doorman

Often times I get wrapped up in my own thoughts when I am weary and tired, or my prayers seem to have gone unanswered. In those times, I need to remember where to get HOPE again when things seem hopeless.

This morning I was meditating on the following verse in Jeremiah 29:12-14 that says “Then you will call to me. You will come and pray to me, and I will hear you. When you look for me, you will find me. When you wholeheartedly seek me, I will let you find me, declares the LORD. I will bring you back from captivity.”

Hmm. Captivity?
It’s true, I too am a captive, but unlike Israel who was delivered into bondage with the fall of Jerusalem in 606 A.D., I am held captive by my own thoughts.
And the more I think about myself, the more miserable I become.

God wants us to know however that when we meditate on His Word and earnestly pray to Him and seek Him, He will lift us up, He will bring us out of captivity, He will restore joy in our hearts and give us peace, provide our needs, and restore our strength when we are weary and tired.

REMEMBER
When attention is focused on negative thoughts, it is possible to become quite discouraged, but when attention is diverted to God and His Word, discouragement flees and faith heightens. So be comforted to know that God is expecting us, and that if we knock, He will answer. A similar verse to the one in Jeremiah is Matthew 7:7 that says “Ask, and you will receive (call to me). Search, and you will find (go and pray to me, you will seek me and find me). Knock, and the door will be opened for you (I will hearken unto you, I will let you find me).”

GOD’S PROMISE – “For I know what I have planned for you, says the LORD. I have plans to prosper you, not to harm you. I have plans to give you a future filled with hope.” (Jeremiah 29:11)

He’s Always Been Faithful

If it weren’t for Christ’s resurrection, the words to “He’s Always Been Faithful” would not be our anthem; would not be our song.

John 19:30

Jesus said “It is finished.” He then bowed his head and gave up his spirit. What is meant by this is that Jesus finished what the Father had sent him to accomplish in this world. He knew what would happen on the cross, yet He still sacrificed His life so that we could have eternal life. Jesus could have called down legions of angels to set him free and spare him suffering, yet He didn’t.

HE’S ALWAYS BEEN FAITHFUL
Words and Music by Sara Groves

Vocals, Jamie Hutzel
Flute, Bill Hutzel
Acoustic 12-String guitar, John D’Elia
Piano, Karen Dann Sundquist

For as he thinks within himself, so he is

“For as he thinks within himself, so he is.” (Proverbs 23:7)

When I was a very small boy, I wanted to be “Davy Crockett”. I was so captivated by the person of Davy Crockett, that I would not only look forward to watching the Walt Disney television series about him with Fess Parker in the leading role, but I would also dress up like him and act out the role as a child. I can also remember my Dad taking me down to our local record shop and buying me the hit single, the Ballad of Davy Crockett” – “Davy, Davy Crockett, king of the wild frontier.”

One day, my grandfather, who was a barber, asked me, “Billy, do you want me to cut your hair so that you look like Davy Crockett with a raccoon tail?” Of course, he was only kidding, but I don’t know if at the time I thought he was kidding as I was only 5 or 6 years old, and very gullible. Everyone thought, I am sure, that that was adorable, but as we mature into adults, many of us today, because of dissatisfaction with who we are, also dwell on and cast ourselves in roles that are not particularly suited to us.

The notion that we are what we eat or that which we dwell on is portrayed humorously in the following conversation between Basil, a middle class English writer, and Zorba, a Greek peasant, from the book “Zorba the Greek”. The phrase you are what you eat, however, is not to be taken literally herein, but rather connotes, what the mind ingests has a bearing on one’s state of mind.

(Zorba) “Tell me what you do with the food you eat, and I’ll tell you who you are. Some turn their food into fat and manure, some into work and good humor, and others, I’m told, into God. So there must be three sorts of men. I’m not one of the worst, boss, nor yet one of the best. I’m somewhere in between the two. What I eat I turn into work and good humor. That’s not too bad, after all!’

(Basil) He looked at me wickedly and started laughing.

(Zorba) As for you, boss, he said, ‘I think you do your level best to turn what you eat into God. But you can’t quite manage it, and that torments you. The same thing’s happening to you as happened to the crow.’

(Basil) ‘What happened to the crow, Zorba?’

(Zorba) ‘Well, you see, he used to walk respectably, properly – well, like a crow. But one day he got it into his head to try and strut about like a pigeon. And from that time on the poor fellow couldn’t for the life of him recall his own way of walking. He was all mixed up, don’t you see? He just hobbled about.”
― Nikos Kazantzakis, Zorba the Greek

How many of us are dissatisfied with who we are and our circumstances, and also try our level best to change things but can’t quite manage it? Because discontent lurks in every person’s heart, we oftentimes try to change who we are, our God given talents, brains and physical appearance, and also our situations, and sometimes it is at grave cost. Unfortunately, many of us who look in the mirror and wish we were someone else, end up tormented like the crow, and hobble about, all mixed up.

But don’t misunderstand me. There is nothing wrong with aspiring to be something or wanting to change our circumstances for the better, just as long as it is a realistic possibility and ordained of God for me as a person. Regardless of who I am and my circumstances, the Bible teaches that I should be content. In Philippians 4:12-13, Paul learned to be content in whatever his circumstances and even with his physical infirmity for he says “I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do everything through Him who gives me strength.” Note: the secret of Paul’s strength was not in himself, but in knowing that Jesus Christ was the source of his strength. Paul was content because Jesus was his all sufficiency.

Whatever your situation, whatever your dissatisfaction with life, whether it be self-esteem, your job, your spouse, etc., rat C.-S.-Lewis-Believe-Quotes-1 her than begrudge these things and wish you were someone else, choose to look in the mirror and focus on “whatever is right, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is fair, whatever is pure, whatever is acceptable, whatever is commendable, if there is anything of excellence and if there is anything praiseworthy—keep thinking about these things.” (Philippians 4:8, ISV). The Bible teaches that we are changed by the things we behold or that which we dwell on. “We are what we believe we are” – C.S. Lewis. Similarly, believers in Christ who behold in the mirror, or who “contemplate the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit” (2 Corinthians 3:18, NIV).

Amazing Grace

Produced, arranged, recorded,
and mixed by John D’Elia
Musicians:
John D’Elia, guitars, bass, percussion
Beth D’Elia, vocals
Bill Hutzel, solo flute

How profound to think that blessings often cause us to divert our attention away from God, and that troubles almost always make us look to God. Such were the troubles of John Newton who wrote “Amazing Grace”.

Newton wrote the words to “Amazing Grace” from personal experience. He grew up without any particular religious conviction, but his path in life would be formed by a variety of twists and coincidences that were “often put into motion by his willful and wanton disregard for all that is right and holy and which led him into a life plagued with despair, dangers at sea, abuse, public floggings, destitution, depression, near drownings and miraculous escapes. During those years Newton often entered into a state of spiritual awakening. Consequently those times were short-lived, and he invariably lapsed into a more wicked and loathsome direction.

One particular harrowing experience at sea was used of the Lord to cause young Newton to seriously consider his standing before a holy God. After being at sea for several months with a load of lumber, livestock and beeswax, the ship ran into a violent storm. So severe was the gale that the otherwise seaworthy vessel was in danger of sinking. When the livestock were washed overboard, the crew tied themselves to the ship to keep from being swept into the sea.

For four weeks, because of damage to the ship, the sailors despaired of life. Most of their waking hours were spent at the pumps to lighten the ship of water she had taken on. Rations were so low the men feared starvation. When they finally reached a port in Ireland, Newton began a sincere effort to become right with God.”[1]

John Newton, were it not for his troubles and despair, may never have come to write the song “Amazing Grace”. The song “Amazing Grace” is Newton’s most famous hymn, and is the most popular spiritual song in the history of American music having been recorded more than 1000 times.

The song was first published in 1779, however, since then it has been associated with more than 20 different melodies including contemporary tunes such as from “House of the Rising Sun” by the Animals composed in the early 1960’s. The hauntingly beautiful melody that we are most familiar with today, however, was published in 1835 from an early-American tune called “New Britain”, although you might not recognize it right-away unless you listen closely to the parts. The second staff below is the melody that we are familiar with.

New_Britain_Southern_Harmony_Amazing_Grace — An 1847 publication of Southern Harmony, showing the title “New Britain” and shape note music. (Play song)

Amazing Grace! How sweet the sound, that saved a wretch like me.

I once was lost, but now am found; was blind, but now I see.

‘Twas grace that taught my heart to fear; and grace my fears relieved.

How precious did that grace appear; the hour I first believed.

Through many dangers, toils and snares, I have already come.

‘Tis grace has brought me safe thus far and grace will lead me home.

Of the tens of thousands of times it has been performed, the instrumental style and expressive quality may change with each interpretation, but the message always remains the same; that forgiveness and redemption are possible regardless of the sins we have committed, and that our souls can be delivered from despair through God’s Amazing Grace.

When we find it difficult to spiritually concentrate on God, and although troubles almost certainly always make us look to God, remember also to look to Him when you are enjoying His blessings because blessings tend to divert our attention away from God. “Narrow all your interests until your mind, heart and body focus on Him.”[2] “Look to me, and be saved, all the ends of the earth; for I am God, and there is no other.” (Isaiah 45:22,WEB).

FOOTNOTES

[1] https://www.crossway.org/tracts/the-amazing-story-behind-amazing-grace-3033/

[2] Chambers, Oswald “My Utmost for His Highest”, January 27

So this is what it feels like to be a castaway on a deserted island

On a deserted island

A man on a deserted island placed a message for help in a bottle and threw it into the sea. The bottle drifted on the waves for a while, until someone found it and read the man’s note. It was an SOS for help. A search and rescue party was then dispatched.

The island is either a perceived place of loneliness, or an actual place of banishment. Often we feel as if God has deserted us when life hurts so badly that we cannot think, plan, dream, or hope anymore. As an example, the hurt of a broken marriage and of the heartbreak can be debilitating. When abandoned by the one you love, the hurt can be too much to bear. You feel like a castaway on a deserted island. I have experienced pain nothing like this before. It saps you of all your energy. On the island you feel alone with your pain. No one is there to help you overcome your loneliness and discouragement. You grieve with tears that no human sees or hears.

Have you forgotten that God sees and hears? He has searched you and knows you. He knows when you sit down and when you rise up. He knows your every thought and is acquainted with all your ways, even to the remotest parts of the sea.

Perhaps several weeks, months or a year has passed since you wrote your message in a bottle. You cry out once again “God, rescue me! Come quickly, Lord, and help me”[1].

As you look up into the night time sky, you can’t help but marvel at the infinite number of stars. How vast is the sum of them! If you should count them, they would outnumber the sand.

You’re drifting off to sleep now. You take wings and ascend into the heaven, searching for the Heart Mender, but tonight you cannot find Him, yet you know he is out there somewhere.

Upon waking, you rub your swollen eyes.
“I don’t believe what I saw,
A hundred billion bottles washed up on the shore
Seems I’m not alone in being alone
A hundred billion castaways looking for a home”[2]

Agony.

Betrayal.

Heartbreak.

Disappointment.

Hopelessness.

Despair.

Loneliness.

Anger.

Bitterness.

Unforgiveness.

Loss of identity.

You have flares. Send one up. Maybe a passing ship will see you. You cry out “Rescue me O Lord!”

Many of you will relate to the character played by Tom Hanks (Chuck) in the movie Castaway, although metaphorically. He is a man marooned on an island after his plane crashes into the ocean during a violent storm. After crashing into the ocean, he is able to cling to his life-raft, loses consciousness, and floats all night before being washed up on a deserted island. He is tested mentally, physically, and emotionally in order to survive.

Similarly, I too have crashed, and have been tested, and wonder why it seemed that God had abandoned me, or why I must suffer. But, in retrospect, I have come to realize that it was during those times of loneliness, pain and suffering that I grew stronger in my faith and closer to God. I could either feel sorry for myself or treat what had happened as a gift. Everything is either an opportunity to grow or an obstacle to keep me from growing. I get to choose.

Four years later, Chuck is dramatically changed, wearing nothing but a loincloth, yet he has become adept at surviving. Then, one day, a large section from a portable toilet washes up on the island; Chuck uses it as a sail in the construction of a raft and sets sail from his island. After drifting for some time, a passing cargo ship finds him and rescues him.

Everything is different now for Chuck. His girlfriend is in a relationship with another man, and his company is being run differently now from when he ran it. Seems like life will always be full of obstacles, sorrows and brokenness. This is part and parcel with life. But some way, somehow, you find the courage to go on and find hope again.

Just so you know; the movie “Castaway” did end on an optimistic note. Chuck delivers a package to someone, a woman flirts with him, and this foreshadows a future past the ending of the film.

And it will also be for us that the Lord hears us when we call to him for help. He will rescue us from all our troubles. He is close to the brokenhearted and rescues those whose spirits are crushed [3]. There is peace and joy again in your future.

Whether your island is due to someone you loved having walked out on you for someone else, or a place of separation due to your own brokenness and sinfulness, take courage; take hope! God hears everyone that calls on Him for help. “The LORD is near to all who call on Him, to all who call on Him in truth … he hears their cries for help and rescues them”[4]. And like the psalmist David, may God turn your wailing into dancing, that your heart may sing your praises to God again. Weeping is only for a short time, then rejoicing will come again.

__________

FOOTNOTES

[1] Psalm 70:1, New Living Translation

[2] Lyrics from song Message in a Bottle by The Police, 1979

[3] Psalm 34:17-18

[4] Psalm 145:18-19

In no uncertain terms

How many of us can say that God has spoken to us in no uncertain terms? Yet, He probably has and you just didn’t know it. I refer to them as God-incidences, messages of reassurance that come when we most need them.

The events in the following story came during a time of great anxiety. It tells of a battle between faith and fear. It tells of the discomfort often felt during life changing events, and the uncertainty that always accompanies them. And it is especially a time when we are most apt to hear God’s message of reassurance to us – “Everything will be okay. I have everything under control”.

“I have been employed for many years as a library manager at New Jersey state colleges,” says Mark Thompson. With higher education funding in serious decline, it was difficult to maintain services with lower budgets. As the leader, the most pressure was on me. To the detriment of my health, I had to take on larger and larger burdens due to having to take up the slack for staff reductions. There was reason to worry that my job could also be eliminated. It became too much.

Then in August 2015, I was without a job. I applied for unemployment benefits, grateful that it would help me over the six months of job searching. Other than unemployment, my wife and I only had $1,000 per month of income. We prayed for God’s mercy, but instead the world crashed upon us. I fell down some concrete steps and was brought to the hospital. I had no insurance. Next, my stress-induced ulcer led to a life-threatening stomach infection – more medical bills. Plus, it interfered with the job search. I needed to surrender to God, and muster up the courage and faith to let go and let God take the steering wheel from me. No easy task. I like to take control.

Then after almost three months receiving benefits, my former employer fought to repeal them. After an ugly set of four hearings, they won. I would not receive any more benefits and I would have to immediately pay back what I had received. Was this really happening to me? I did not have enough money as it was to pay bills and then pay them back. Not only was this a great financial hardship, but also emotionally devastating, plunging me deep into despair. So, I asked friends to pray hard to help me to keep trusting in Him. Although I knew that the Bible said that God was in control, I couldn’t shake that “no way out” gut wrenching feeling of panic that I now succumbed to.

As a believer, I am often conflicted by the fear that I feel when confronted with circumstances that threaten my well-being, shamed, knowing that God has always provided for me in the past, and also knowing that He promised to continually meet my needs “according to the riches of his glory in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 4:19). So when I am facing fears, I (we) must remember that we are human and it is normal for us to worry, but not unsurmountable when we exercise our faith in God through fervent prayer and praise. Do you want to know if prayer works? Then put prayer to the test. God wants us to ask Him for the impossible, for God is a God of miracles and He wants to answer our prayers.

A week after losing my final appeal on unemployment, I received news from the attorney that had settled my Uncle Morton’s estate that additional monies had been found in the State’s unclaimed property fund and that I would be the recipient of it. I was elated. The timing couldn’t have been orchestrated better, and the amount found was nearly the amount I owed. God knew my need and answered me with a check in the amount of $16,796.00. That would nearly cover my total bill of $16,987.96 that I owed the State. “Unbelievable! Thank you, Lord – you are faithful. You are merciful.”

Well, God did leave a balance owed of $211.96. I guess I am not totally off the hook yet for trusting in God. But the God-incident served to raise my God awareness of Him in my situation. As we mature in Christ, and with each new circumstance that comes our way, our faith is tested, and it grows with each answered prayer, especially when the odds are slim to none that there will be a positive outcome.

Thanksgiving: In a politically correct world

Although Thanksgiving was first observed here in America following the arrival of the Mayflower at Plymouth Rock in 1620, George Washington, the first President of the United States, proclaimed the first national Thanksgiving Day on October 3, 1789. The decree appointed the day “to be observed by acknowledging with grateful hearts the many and signal favors of Almighty God.”

By the PRESIDENT of the United States Of America A PROCLAMATION –“WHEREAS it is the duty of all nations to acknowledge the providence of Almighty God, to obey His will, to be grateful for His benefits, and humbly to implore His protection and favour … rendering unto Him our sincere and humble thanks for his kind care and protection of the people of this country”.

In 1863, Abraham Lincoln urged all Americans to set aside the last Thursday of November to give thanks and praise to God the Father who dwelleth in heaven.

On October 27, 1961, quoting from the Bible, President Kennedy proclaimed “It is a good thing to give thanks unto the Lord” (Psalm 92:1, KJV). He urged all citizens to make Thanksgiving not merely a holiday from their labors, but rather a day of contemplation, reverence and prayer.

Americans all over the country will be celebrating Thanksgiving Day tomorrow. What was once a celebration of thanksgiving to God for provision, and prayer for forgiveness, for many today, it has become secular, a holiday from their labors.

Thanksgiving is even becoming an anomaly in stores and businesses today in favor of being politically correct. As I was checking out at a store register yesterday, the employee at the cash register said to me “Have a nice holiday”. This would be the “politically correct” thing to say; certainly not “Happy Thanksgiving”, lest I offend someone. But I guess wishing someone a nice holiday sounds better than wishing them a happy day off. As I could have replied the same, I instead wished her a “Happy Thanksgiving”.

I often wake early in the morning. It was around 4 am the other day that I awoke. I could not return to sleep, so I turned on my radio to Dr. Charles Stanley who was sharing a message on “Overflowing with Gratitude”. Thankfulness is a choice, and that which we are thankful for should be an outgrowth of one’s relationship with Christ.

So, tomorrow, as we thank God for good health, family, and turkey and stuffing, those who acknowledge God as the source of every provision and blessing in their life, let’s also be thankful for the many benefits we receive as children of God – for the peace of God in our heart, for our salvation and promise of our eternal home in heaven, for the Word of God, and God’s unconditional love for us.

Have a Happy Thanksgiving!

Related Post: THANKSGIVING, November 2014

and he will lift you up

When I was in junior high school, I used to go over to my cousin’s house often. I looked up to my cousin Marty who was several years older than me. I loved my cousin. We would sit up in his room calling on his HAM radio anyone who would answer.
“Breaker, Breaker good buddy … are you out there?”
Unfortunately, I don’t think that all were good buddies.

As I entered high school, I did not see Marty as often. Marty was in some type of trouble and had been thrown from a moving vehicle out on to the highway. He would receive multiple injuries, and although God was eager to rescue his life, Marty was spiritually bankrupt. Marty was in with the wrong crowd and had become a heroin addict. It should have been a wake up call for him.

Years later, I ran into Marty just outside of the Port of Authority bus terminal. This was the first time that I would run into him after quite awhile. He was in a feeble state, and was begging on the streets of New York City. We would talk briefly, he would ask me for some money, and then move on. It was heart-wrenching to see him this way.

The second time that I ran into Marty, we were both crossing at an intersection at Broadway and …, but this time we had no words with each other as he quickly turned away from me, ashamed. I recall that he looked gaunt and many of his teeth were missing now. That was the last time I heard of or saw my cousin, until he was featured on the CBS 60-Minutes News Hour with Harry Reasoner about panhandlers. Marty would later be incarcerated at Sing Sing Correctional Facility, a maximum security prison, where he would spend the rest of his life and die.

As a heroin addict, I learned from my aunt that Marty would check himself into and out of rehab centers, yet always return to his addiction after being released. Only if Marty had cried out to God to pick him up and help him get his feet back on the ground might he have been spared his sad fate. And yet a parallel can also be made to a believer’s life who refuses to allow God’s Word to penetrate their heart, who repeatedly asks God for forgiveness, but always returns to their sin.

How many of us wholeheartedly devote ourselves to the Lord God in all His ways? For most believers, it is so easy to get distracted and forget to cast our cares upon the Lord, especially “when all is well with me”. This was the psalmist David’s sentiments in Psalm 30. But, oh, how we wish that we might be lifted up from our mind’s distractions and the torture of unbelief when things are not going well; don’t we? David is not an exception.

Most of us will admit that we have all fallen from time to time just as David had. And perhaps many of us also keep coming back to God (maybe too many times), asking for God’s forgiveness, and that He might lift us up. But is it an earnest prayer, one that is wholeheartedly felt, a prayer of confession that we truly need God? Or is it like Marty who was in and out of rehab, only to return repeatedly to his sin of addiction? We all have addictions of some kind or another. Sin takes on many forms. Perhaps your sin is unbelief, or pride, or manipulation, or substance abuse or a sexual integrity addiction, or anger, or something else. Have you asked God to forgive you your sins and lift you up? Don’t be one whom God turns his face from.

The song Pick Me Up (composed by Bill Hutzel and John D’Elia, 2014) was inspired by Psalm 30, but can also find inspiration from Psalm 71:20 and James 4:10. So often we fancy ourselves as secure, and we think we can go it all alone. But when God hides His face from me because I choose to go it on my own, my soul cries out to Him to “Pick Me Up, and turn me around … Lord set me free, for I’ve been going it on my own, now it’s time for me to come home, Help me get my feet back on the ground.”

The psalmist David had a propensity for going it on his own, for he said “When all was well with me, I said, I will never be moved”. In Psalm 30:6-12 it says that David then asked for God’s mercy as he was shaken because God turned his face from him. God being compassionate, then lifts David from his troubles, turns his crying into dancing, and establishes his feet with joy on God’s firm foundation again.

But how do we go about picking ourselves up or restoring our relationship with God? James 4:10 says “Humble yourselves before the Lord and he will lift you up”. To humble yourself means to be subservient and wholeheartedly devoted to God. “and he shall lift you up; this is God’s way of lifting up those who seek Him in all things – Over time, as we mature in Christ, we find God lifting us up more frequently, and consequently changing us so that we become more like Christ. He draws us nearer to Him, and as a result we grow in faith and wisdom, better able to overcome our limited expectations of ourselves for overcoming sin in our lives. He delivers us from our old ways; He comforts us as we sing our praise to Him alone and raise our voice up to His throne, our arms outstretched to His delight, stars shimmering in His reflected light; He gives us a place with Him in eternity.

The song Pick Me Up is a prayer of confession that we need God to lift us up and deliver us – “Oh Lord, set me free”. It is a song of confession to God that we have all gone it on our own. “Now it’s time for me to come home, Help me get my feet back on the ground”.

God is eager to rescue us just as He was eager to deliver King David; just as He was eager to deliver Marty, although Marty was unaccepting of God’s help and mercy. He is eager to help us live successful and victorious lives. He wants us to draw near to Him so that we can know Him better and love Him more, and so that we might be empowered with with His Holy Spirit to do what is right, live in faith and do good works (Romans 7:18, Ephesians 2:4-10). Will we allow God to lift us up?

(Pick Me Up song lyrics)
Oh stand by me
Oh Lord, set me free
Oh I’ve been goin’ it on my own
Now it’s time for me to come home
Help me get my feet back on the ground

Pick me up and turn me around,
Jesus make a change in my life,
Pick me up and don’t put me down,
Jesus make a change in my life.

Sing my praise to You alone
Raise my voice up to Your throne
My arms outstretched to Your delight
Stars shimmering in Your reflected light.

Oh stand by me
Oh Lord, set me free
Oh I’ve been goin’ it on my own
Now it’s time for me to come home
Help me get my feet back on the ground.

Pick me up and turn me around,
Jesus make a change in my life,
Pick me up, don’t put me down
Jesus make a change in my life.

If I’m up or if I down
Sing Hallelujah, we all bow down,
Let Your light, shine in me now,
Empower me with Your Spirit now.

Don’t worry about it

What great advice! Only if we would always follow it … right?

Worry, however, is sadly an inevitability of life. We worry about our relationships, health, job security and employment, finances, and even appearances. For instance, you lose your job. You as a result worry about finding another job. You worry whether or not you will be able to make ends meet and pay your mortgage and taxes. Or, lets say, you run into some health issues and your doctor recommends certain tests to rule out cancer; you worry if your test results will come back positive.

And so, where there is uncertainty, the natural human response is to think negative. Some of us even play over and over again worst-case-scenarios in our heads like watching a bad movie over and over again.

Yet I am reminded that God can do anything. I am reminded over and over again that God has in the past always supplied my needs when I am faithful to Him. So why do we still worry? It is the human side of us. Trust is not a natural response. We need to exert our will to trust God in all circumstances. Instead of being distracted from God, we need to exert ourselves and equip ourselves everyday with God’s Word to combat our human nature to want control. We need to wholly trust in Him. “So do not worry about tomorrow; for tomorrow will care for itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.” (Matthew 6:34).

Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary on Matthew 6:34 says “The conclusion of the whole matter is, that it is the will and command of the Lord Jesus, that by daily prayers we may get strength to bear us up under our daily troubles, and to arm us against the temptations that attend them, and then let none of these things move us.”