My Refuge. My Strength.

I will have more to say about the reason I am posting this passage of scripture in the near future (I hope!) But I really wanted to pass this along, as every single word in Psalm 73 speaks to where I am in the Lord.

Psalm 73

BOOK III : Psalms 73-89

A psalm of Asaph.

¹Surely God is good to Israel,
to those who are pure in heart.

² But as for me, my feet had almost slipped;
I had nearly lost my foothold.

³ For I envied the arrogant
when I saw the prosperity of the wicked.

⁴ They have no struggles;
their bodies are healthy and strong.

⁵ They are free from the burdens common to man;
they are not plagued by human ills.

⁶ Therefore pride is their necklace;
they clothe themselves with violence.

⁷ From their callous hearts comes iniquity ;
the evil conceits of their minds know no limits.

⁸ They scoff, and speak with malice;
in their arrogance they threaten oppression.

⁹ Their mouths lay claim to heaven,
and their tongues take possession of the earth.

¹⁰ Therefore their people turn to them
and drink up waters in abundance.

¹¹ They say, "How can God know?
Does the Most High have knowledge?"

¹² This is what the wicked are like—
always carefree, they increase in wealth.

¹³ Surely in vain have I kept my heart pure;
in vain have I washed my hands in innocence.

¹⁴ All day long I have been plagued;
I have been punished every morning.

¹⁵ If I had said, "I will speak thus,"
I would have betrayed your children.

¹⁶ When I tried to understand all this,
it was oppressive to me

¹⁷ till I entered the sanctuary of God;
then I understood their final destiny.

¹⁸ Surely you place them on slippery ground;
you cast them down to ruin.

¹⁹ How suddenly are they destroyed,
completely swept away by terrors!

²⁰ As a dream when one awakes,
so when you arise, O Lord,
you will despise them as fantasies.

²¹ When my heart was grieved
and my spirit embittered,

²² I was senseless and ignorant;
I was a brute beast before you.

²³ Yet I am always with you;
you hold me by my right hand.

²⁴ You guide me with your counsel,
and afterward you will take me into glory.

²⁵ Whom have I in heaven but you?
And earth has nothing I desire besides you.

²⁶ My flesh and my heart may fail,
but God is the strength of my heart
and my portion forever.

²⁷ Those who are far from you will perish;
you destroy all who are unfaithful to you.

²⁸ But as for me, it is good to be near God.
I have made the Sovereign LORD my refuge;
I will tell of all your deeds.

I am so very thankful that He, by His mighty yet tender, patient and loving hand, has drawn me nearer this day. And thankful that He alone is my refuge and strength.

Saturday Evening Thoughts...

I witnessed again (for the second year in a row) an amazing thing. Street pole vaulting. How on earth can guys and gals fling themselves 18 feet into the air by just a pole?? And don't they lose their stomachs every time they free-fall to the mat? And aren't they afraid of losing an eye by the end of their pole that tends to fall in every which way?? Okay, maybe it would just be me that would lose an eye...but still!

So the amazement of this got me thinking. The past few nights, thinking has gotten me in trouble and cost me many, many hours of sleep. While I was away in Alaska, I often thought and borderline worried that I wouldn't have any work to come home to. I managed to get everything done before I left. And now that I'm home, I just might have more than I can handle! But, the work and the Lord is good because there are things around the house that need to be repaired and replaced and again, while praying I felt the assurance of my Father that He will provide!

And in Him doing so, I've felt, in my flesh, so very overwhelmed. But only because I'm looking at the to-do list through my eyes and not His.

While watching these men and women catapult themselves into the blue sky, God's words filled my heart and reminded me "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me" and "not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit says the Lord Almighty."

And I was encouraged and reminded that although the weight of the tasks before me seem unbearable, Christ has gone before me. God is granting me these opportunities to meet new people in these many photo assignments, to grow in making a gut-wrenching decision, and to show others the truth that it is Christ who enables me to persevere and not my own abilities.

Isaiah 58:11
The LORD will guide you always; he will satisfy your needs in a sun-scorched land and will strengthen your frame. You will be like a well-watered garden, like a spring whose waters never fail.

Oh, how I very much want to be like a spring whose water never fails. Never runs out. Never runs dry. Always ready to spill forth and fill up those who need encouragement, need a friend and need to hear the truth of Salvation that comes from Christ alone.

Accomplishing these tasks and making these decisions seemed so impossible before but now I know that Christ is my strength and even though I messed up and drank a sweet tea from McDonalds and therefore will not sleep again tonight(!) I will be able to persevere tomorrow because He is my strength!

And I look forward to doing it all with the grace and love of Christ shining brightly from my face. Today has been a day that has physically worn me out, but at the end of myself I find Christ and that's the best place to be.