Recently, I set aside time to be with friends and have some quiet, away from phone and distractions.. The beauty of a phone set aside, allowing the Spirit to lead rather than a concordance or cross reference. (Not that there is anything wrong with these resources.) It is very easy to rely on resources, and forget the beauty of stillness.
Who You Are to Me by Chris Tomlin
This is tenuous, right? Being away from real life, we get to take a breath, but it all comes back as soon as we step back in again. Vacations are beautiful, but life is still here. How can we continue the peace in our minds and hearts even when we are back in the thick of it all?
I don’t know all the answers, but I have a few thoughts.
Worship. Taking my eyes off me and placing them on the LORD changes some priorities in my mind. It is definitely a repetitive movement in my mind. I get distracted by so many things. Rather than trying to remember my to do list or recycle an old conversation or rehearse one coming up, I keep asking the Lord to take this for me for just a little while.
“Bless and affectionately praise the Lord, O my soul, And all that is [deep] within me, bless His holy name. Bless and affectionately praise the Lord, O my soul, And do not forget any of His benefits;”
Psalms 103:1-2 AMP
https://bible.com/bible/1588/psa.103.1-2.AMP
The Psalmist begins with a personal prompt to try out a new list instead of to do or didn’ts, list His benefits. Worship reminds me of all that He does in creation around me and all that is moving around me and in me that I cannot see.
“Who forgives all your sins, Who heals all your diseases; Who redeems your life from the pit, Who crowns you [lavishly] with lovingkindness and tender mercy; Who satisfies your years with good things, So that your youth is renewed like the [soaring] eagle. [Is 40:31]”
Psalms 103:3-5 AMP
https://bible.com/bible/1588/psa.103.3-5.AMP
Now the Psalmist turns to the reader and says, how about this list? Forgiving. Healing. Redeeming. Lovingkindness. Mercy. Renewing. All that we face each day finds its answer in these words. Notice that God’s presence is our answer, friend. We are in situations where we beg God to move. And God brings us back to who He is here. Who He is matters much more than our circumstance changing.
“¶The Lord executes righteousness And justice for all the oppressed. He made known His ways [of righteousness and justice] to Moses, His acts to the children of Israel. The Lord is merciful and gracious, Slow to anger and abounding in compassion and lovingkindness. [James 5:11] He will not always strive with us, Nor will He keep His anger forever. He has not dealt with us according to our sins [as we deserve], Nor rewarded us [with punishment] according to our wickedness.”
Psalms 103:6-10 AMP
https://bible.com/bible/1588/psa.103.6-10.AMP
Whether the circumstances are out of our control or of our own making, His righteousness and justice still remain. His ways have been made known to us. We read God’s word. His mercy, his grace, his compassion, his slow fuse, lovingkindness are woven throughout the text. If you don’t see it yet, hope is coming. God is our rescuer, even when we dug the pit. Even when we hung curtains and bought throw rugs to finish the pit.
We can reach out our hand and he will do it. He will draw us out. Recognizing the mud of sin, the more time we spend in his word, the more we can compare and contrast. God’s way or ours. And what we deserve compared to what we have received….
Quiet. We can learn so much about ourselves when we are quiet. We can learn so much about our God when we are quiet and listening. These are practices that begin with this little thought and prayer. God, I want to hear from you.
Remind myself who is my God. Worship with this intention. Quiet my heart. Confess my sins.
As you can see I haven’t finished Psalm 103, so I’ll be back for a part 2. 🙂
Comment
[…] little while back, I wrote a short post about Who God Is. This could just be an ongoing theme, discovering and exploring and learning all about our God. I […]