Sometimes it’s all too easy to get bogged down, overwhelmed, and discouraged by our circumstances. We may find our self, if not careful, deeply involved in our own pity-party. Discouragement—such a powerful tool of our enemy! It so easily swallows us, robbing us of hope and distracting us from our purpose. Our focus, amidst the discouragement, begins to shift until we become totally fixated on our insignificant smallness in contrast to our mounting obstacle of circumstances. And this is exactly what the enemy hopes for. But, as always, the enemy uses a twisted truth (thus a lie) as bate on his hook when hoping to lure us into despair. The truth is—we are much smaller than many of life’s challenges. Inept at handling so many crises on our own. But the truth doesn’t stop there, unless the only voice we hear is the enemy speaking through discouragement.
The truth is—life is bigger than we. Period! But, we are not in this alone! We are not cast off, allowed to struggle unavailingly on our own. We have an awesome God! Psalm brings this into focus.
Ps 61:2-3
2 From the end of the earth will I cry to You, when my heart is overwhelmed and fainting; lead me to the rock that is higher than I [yes, a rock that is too high for me].
3 For You have been a shelter and a refuge for me, a strong tower against the adversary.
AMP
This was the little nugget God handed me this morning after a day of pity-party throwing yesterday. I needed just such redirection! There are times when life seems too big--like an ocean tide that swells and comes crashing down upon us. The sand grabbing frantically at our feet—pulling us and knocking us down. We are swept away. We cough and sputter with mouthfuls of water, gasping for air. On our own we would surely drown. Enter our Mighty God!
How comforting to know that during these times, He is our sheltering rock. He lifts and places us high above our stormy situations. He places us securely on the rock. A solid place. A firm foundation. He becomes our shelter, our refuge, our strong tower in which we find peace and hope. He shelters us from our adversary, who sometimes comes disguised as overly large doses of discouragement and self-pity.
If only Satan could keep us here—we would remain defeated, he being our victor. And, oh, how he tries! But, God always makes a way of escape. And, if we find our self feeling too weary and overwhelmed to stand or fight the waves, we only need to call out to Him. When we realize we have no strength to climb into that safe place of shelter from the storm, He has promised to ‘lead [us] to the rock that is higher than [we]’.
In our own strength we fail. Looking to Him and leaning into His strength, He is able to lift us above the tossing waves to a place that is above ourselves, ‘yes, a rock that is too high for me’. A place our spirit can find rest that is only obtainable with the intervention of our very personal God. We could never arrive here on our own! But, God is our Rescuer and Refuge!
How thankful I am today of this simple reminder in Psalm 61 that when I feel like a failure, stuck in my dead-end pity-party, overwhelmed with the demands of life, I only really need to stop and call on Jesus. Whatever I need to accomplish that is impossible in my own strength, I can and will accomplish in His. He is able to place my spirit in the quiet refuge under the Father’s wing, allowing me to surrender my weaknesses unto Him until I am emptied and able to receive His power! And, it is there, high on the rock of His strength, that the enemy is defeated and my victory is won!
Showing posts with label victory. Show all posts
Showing posts with label victory. Show all posts
Friday, April 9, 2010
Wednesday, February 10, 2010
Two Sets of Eyes
I was sort of hoping to talk some more today about the Proverbs woman, but another thought has forced its way to the forefront of my mind. This morning I was reading Psalm 13. I could hear the desperation in David's voice as he cried out to God:
Prov. 13:1-2 (Amplified version) How long will you forget me, O Lord? Forever? How long will You hide Your face from me? How long must I lay up cares within me and have sorrow in my heart day after day? How long shall my enemy exalt himself over me?
Wow, talk about having a wilderness moment! I gather David has felt like he's been in the wilderness for a while now. He feels forgotten. Alone. Can't you hear him asking, "God, where are you???? I'm desperate for you here!" Who hasn't been there? If you live long enough, you are going to encounter a wilderness spot.
And then I read the next verse, the one that really grabbed my attention:
vs. 3 Consider and answer me, O Lord my God; lighten the eyes (of my faith to behold Your face in the pitchlike darkness), lest I sleep the sleep of death. vs. 4 Lest my enemy say, I have prevailed over him, and those that trouble me rejoice when I am shaken.
Wow! Did you catch it? David is asking God to open his eyes of faith so that he can see God in the pitchlike darkness! Have you ever found yourself in a place so dark and quiet that you couldn't sense, see, feel, hear God-- at all? Where you wondered if He was even there? Wondered if He had left you..alone...to die?
Wilderness moments. Places we encounter where things just don't seem to make any sense. What are we to do? Places of great struggle which exhaust us, that demand from us but offer nothing in return. Do we give in to the despair? The loneliness? The sense of hopelessness that chokes us? Let's see what David did.
vs. 5 But I have trusted, leaned on, and been confident in Your mercy and loving kindness; my heart shall rejoice and be in high spirits in Your salvation. vs. 6 I will sing to the Lord, because He has dealt bountifully with me.
Did I read that right? In the midst of his despair, does David actually say he will be confident and rejoice? Even sing? HOW--my mind screams out! How can he do that in his wilderness? And then I am directed back to the key found in vs. 3 during his prayer to God to open his eyes of faith so that he can see God in his pitchlike darkness.
He uses his other set of eyes! His eyes of faith. He illustrates such a great contrast to us of the two sets of eyes that we each have. The first half of this Psalm allows us to view, with David, through eyes of flesh. We see the despair. We feel the intense forsaken feelings. We are disoriented by the unrelenting darkness. We are weary from the struggle. We taste defeat. Been there?
But then David turns to the Lord to ask for help so that his eyes of faith can be opened. And, again, we are allowed a glimpse through those eyes alongside David. What is there to see? We see a trustworthy God capable of holding us up in His Mercy and loving-kindness. One Who is too full of mercy and kindness to leave us forever in the state of our wilderness. One Who will not allow our enemy--our situation, our failures, to mock us and jeer, because He will not leave us forsaken and defeated to our enemy's advantage.
In the midst of this vast nothing, staleness, pain, isolation, failure, seeming defeat, we gain our voice and sing with rejoicing because we see again through opened eyes of faith to a situation that, in the light of who God is, looks totally different. We see through eyes of faith straight into the eyes of our God and at that moment, we see not our lack, not our need, not our voids, but we see His bountiful provisions. His abundance of mercy. Abundance of love. His magnificent power at work in our lives.
Our wilderness has not changed. Our view of it has. Why? Because of faith!
Hebrews 11:1 (KJV) states:
Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.
The Amplified version breaks it down a bit to say that (me paraphrasing) faith is the assurance of the things we hope for, being the proof of things we do not see--or, "faith perceiving as real fact what is not revealed to the senses."
Faith tells us that God has not forsaken us. That we are not defeated. That the pitchlike darkness won't last forever. It reminds us of our Bountiful God, His love and mercy, and our victory through Him. It reminds us that God has a plan for us and that He will most certainly see it completed. It reiterates to us that we are not alone. That no matter how many times we fall down, we are not a failure. That no matter how many mistakes we make, we are not hopeless. We're never cast aside and forgotten by our God. And that no matter what we are up against, regardless of its magnitude, our God is greater still!
In short, faith is seeing through God's eyes what we cannot see through our human, fleshly eyes. It's looking past the here and now. Looking ahead to what God knows is there. Spotting our victory, our restoration, or perhaps our healing. It's a steady beacon of hope to us that with God all things are possible. With God there is no failure. And, if we think about it, faith gently reminds us that this wilderness, this place of forsaken darkness--this too shall pass!
God, help me to see through eyes of faith. Help me so that I am not dictated to and limited by only what my fleshly eyes can see and comprehend. Open my eyes of faith today that I might behold you in all of your Glory! That I might see your endless possibilities for my life. Remind me through those same eyes that in You, I am an overcomer! Amen.
Prov. 13:1-2 (Amplified version) How long will you forget me, O Lord? Forever? How long will You hide Your face from me? How long must I lay up cares within me and have sorrow in my heart day after day? How long shall my enemy exalt himself over me?
Wow, talk about having a wilderness moment! I gather David has felt like he's been in the wilderness for a while now. He feels forgotten. Alone. Can't you hear him asking, "God, where are you???? I'm desperate for you here!" Who hasn't been there? If you live long enough, you are going to encounter a wilderness spot.
And then I read the next verse, the one that really grabbed my attention:
vs. 3 Consider and answer me, O Lord my God; lighten the eyes (of my faith to behold Your face in the pitchlike darkness), lest I sleep the sleep of death. vs. 4 Lest my enemy say, I have prevailed over him, and those that trouble me rejoice when I am shaken.
Wow! Did you catch it? David is asking God to open his eyes of faith so that he can see God in the pitchlike darkness! Have you ever found yourself in a place so dark and quiet that you couldn't sense, see, feel, hear God-- at all? Where you wondered if He was even there? Wondered if He had left you..alone...to die?
Wilderness moments. Places we encounter where things just don't seem to make any sense. What are we to do? Places of great struggle which exhaust us, that demand from us but offer nothing in return. Do we give in to the despair? The loneliness? The sense of hopelessness that chokes us? Let's see what David did.
vs. 5 But I have trusted, leaned on, and been confident in Your mercy and loving kindness; my heart shall rejoice and be in high spirits in Your salvation. vs. 6 I will sing to the Lord, because He has dealt bountifully with me.
Did I read that right? In the midst of his despair, does David actually say he will be confident and rejoice? Even sing? HOW--my mind screams out! How can he do that in his wilderness? And then I am directed back to the key found in vs. 3 during his prayer to God to open his eyes of faith so that he can see God in his pitchlike darkness.
He uses his other set of eyes! His eyes of faith. He illustrates such a great contrast to us of the two sets of eyes that we each have. The first half of this Psalm allows us to view, with David, through eyes of flesh. We see the despair. We feel the intense forsaken feelings. We are disoriented by the unrelenting darkness. We are weary from the struggle. We taste defeat. Been there?
But then David turns to the Lord to ask for help so that his eyes of faith can be opened. And, again, we are allowed a glimpse through those eyes alongside David. What is there to see? We see a trustworthy God capable of holding us up in His Mercy and loving-kindness. One Who is too full of mercy and kindness to leave us forever in the state of our wilderness. One Who will not allow our enemy--our situation, our failures, to mock us and jeer, because He will not leave us forsaken and defeated to our enemy's advantage.
In the midst of this vast nothing, staleness, pain, isolation, failure, seeming defeat, we gain our voice and sing with rejoicing because we see again through opened eyes of faith to a situation that, in the light of who God is, looks totally different. We see through eyes of faith straight into the eyes of our God and at that moment, we see not our lack, not our need, not our voids, but we see His bountiful provisions. His abundance of mercy. Abundance of love. His magnificent power at work in our lives.
Our wilderness has not changed. Our view of it has. Why? Because of faith!
Hebrews 11:1 (KJV) states:
Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.
The Amplified version breaks it down a bit to say that (me paraphrasing) faith is the assurance of the things we hope for, being the proof of things we do not see--or, "faith perceiving as real fact what is not revealed to the senses."
Faith tells us that God has not forsaken us. That we are not defeated. That the pitchlike darkness won't last forever. It reminds us of our Bountiful God, His love and mercy, and our victory through Him. It reminds us that God has a plan for us and that He will most certainly see it completed. It reiterates to us that we are not alone. That no matter how many times we fall down, we are not a failure. That no matter how many mistakes we make, we are not hopeless. We're never cast aside and forgotten by our God. And that no matter what we are up against, regardless of its magnitude, our God is greater still!
In short, faith is seeing through God's eyes what we cannot see through our human, fleshly eyes. It's looking past the here and now. Looking ahead to what God knows is there. Spotting our victory, our restoration, or perhaps our healing. It's a steady beacon of hope to us that with God all things are possible. With God there is no failure. And, if we think about it, faith gently reminds us that this wilderness, this place of forsaken darkness--this too shall pass!
God, help me to see through eyes of faith. Help me so that I am not dictated to and limited by only what my fleshly eyes can see and comprehend. Open my eyes of faith today that I might behold you in all of your Glory! That I might see your endless possibilities for my life. Remind me through those same eyes that in You, I am an overcomer! Amen.
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