March 20, 2007

Step 3: . We made a decision to turn our life and will over to the care of God.

Scripture reading for today: Psalm 22, Proverbs 13

Misery loves company. At least that’s true for me. In Psalm 22, David crafts a psalm that is right up my alley. He starts out fussing at God for being so distant, praises God for his saving power, moves on to a self-pitying tirade (“But I am a worm, not a human being; I am scorned by everyone, despised by the people. All who see me mock me…”), expresses appreciation for God’s provision for him, rushes back to his own personal tale of woes, begs God to come quickly and save him, bargains with God that he will publicly praise him – and then actually does it. You can almost hear the switch click as David slips into worship. All the things He can remember about God’s character he begins to sing in these final verses.

And in the midst of this reading, my misery finds company. I am comforted by the fact that believing doesn’t have to mean being perpetually perky. I am renewed as I realize that one can worship God AND feel far away from His saving touch – simultaneously.

If I were God, I couldn’t handle all this messiness! Fortunately for all of us – I am not God.

Thought for today: Sometimes when I’m in a funky place, I don’t want to hear the theologically sound answer – I just want to know that someone understands my pain. I don’t even want someone to give me a gentle and kind word of correction – I just want someone to listen to my story. There will come a time when the theologically sound answer is not only what I want, but what I desperately need. A gentle and kind word of correction is one of the grandest acts of love that can be bestowed upon another – properly timed. One of the things I love about God is His masterful timing. He knows when to let us vent, and when to reel us in. I want to encourage you today – although we humans don’t always have God’s impeccable timing – God himself does. May today be a day you take your messy ball of yarn called life to Him, so that you too, like David, can experience God’s perfecting timing.

Thought for tomorrow: The Lord is my shepherd, I lack nothing. Psalm 23:1 Today’s NIV

March 20
Teresa McBean

*New...Don't Have Google Account...publish your comments as "Other" and enter your information.