We live in topsy-turvy times. My life right now is especially so. God is here in the midst of it…I know He is. I see glimpses of His hand in my circumstances at every turn. And yet….sometimes, worry sneaks up on me. I’m going along fine, deciding what to sell and what to keep, sorting, organizing, packing boxes and…BAM! The questions start in my head. Where are we going to live? What if it we can’t find work? Why is this happening? Before I know it worry has slithered its way into my head and boy, does it have a firm grip!

The first seven verses of Psalm 37 have helped me a lot.

1 Don’t worry about the wicked
      or envy those who do wrong.
 2 For like grass, they soon fade away.
      Like spring flowers, they soon wither.

 3 Trust in the Lord and do good.
      Then you will live safely in the land and prosper.
 4 Take delight in the Lord,
      and he will give you your heart’s desires.

 5 Commit everything you do to the Lord.
      Trust him, and he will help you.
 6 He will make your innocence radiate like the dawn,
      and the justice of your cause will shine like the noonday sun.

 7 Be still in the presence of the Lord,
      and wait patiently for him to act.
   Don’t worry about evil people who prosper
      or fret about their wicked schemes. (NLT)

Notice that this passage is bracketed with two admonitions to not worry. In the middle is four steps that can us get the upper hand on this joy-robber.

1. Trust in the Lord and do good. (v. 3) God promises to provide my needs. He promises that He will work all things together to make me more like Him and bring Him glory. Lack of trust in these promises makes me fretful. Faith and works go together so I need to continue to serve Him while I wait on His timing.
2. Delight in the Lord. (v. 4) To delight in Him is more than just being thankful for what He does for me. It speaks more to reveling and finding great joy in who He is.
3. Commit everything I do to Him. (v. 5) “Commit” means to” throw my burdens.” Doesn’t that sound great? I can just picture taking a big load of stuff that bogs me down in worry and chucking it over a cliff! But actually it’s better than that because the burdens aren’t just thrown off me…they are given to Him!
4. Be still in the presence of the Lord. Ah, peace and rest. That’s what my worried soul yearns for! This brings to mind Isaiah 40:31 “Yet those who wait for the LORD will gain new strength; they will mount up with wings like eagles, they will run and not get tired, they will walk and not become weary. (NASB)

Trust, delight, commit, be still….take these to heart my friends and find peace for your weary soul!

Have you ever noticed when you read in the Old Testament how many times you find a reference to a miracle God had done or a promise He had kept for the nation of Israel? I did a very quick and unscientific word search and came up with over fifty times that the phrase “out of Egypt” is used in a way that is a remembrance of God using Moses to bring the nation of Israel out of Egypt and eventually to the promise land.

It’s not that God needs to keep pointing this out….it’s that the children of Israel needed to be continually reminded. There seem to be two distinct purposes for these reminders. The first one was for when the Israelites were heading down the path of disobedience. It’s like God was saying, “Hey, remember me….the One who brought you out of Egypt and into the promised land? Remember all those miracles I did for you? Don’t you think I should be worshipped and obeyed? What are you doing…what are you thinking?!”

The second situation that brings on a reminder was when the nation was facing something really tough. Usually it was an upcoming battle that was going to be fought against incredible odds. In these cases the reminder was more like, “Hey, remember me….the One who brought you out of Egypt and into the promised land? Remember all those miracles I did for you? Don’t you think that I can handle this battle for you too? Why are you worrying?”

 I think remembering the goodness and greatness of God is still very important for us today. Remember who He is and what He has done…..the miracles of the Bible, yes, but also the great things that He has done for you. Your salvation, the way He provides for you, everything in your life comes from Him. Doesn’t He deserve to be worshipped and obeyed? Hasn’t He proven that He can be trusted in the midst of any of our life’s storms?

So take time today to remember what a mighty God we serve!!

I graduated from a christian high school and for the yearbook all of the seniors were asked to give our favorite bible verse. At that time my favorite was Ecclesiastes 3:1-8

To everything there is a season,

      A time for every purpose under heaven:
       2 A time to be born,
And a time to die;
      A time to plant,
And a time to pluck what is planted;
       3 A time to kill,
And a time to heal;
      A time to break down,
And a time to build up;
       4 A time to weep,
And a time to laugh;
      A time to mourn,
And a time to dance;
       5 A time to cast away stones,
And a time to gather stones;
      A time to embrace,
And a time to refrain from embracing;
       6 A time to gain,
And a time to lose;
      A time to keep,
And a time to throw away;
       7 A time to tear,
And a time to sew;
      A time to keep silence,
And a time to speak;
       8 A time to love,
And a time to hate;
      A time of war,
And a time of peace.

One thing I've learned living in Western New York....some seasons are long (brrr) and some seasons are short. I have certainly spent some time cheering summer on, hoping against hope that it would hold on just a little bit longer. But, no matter how much I might cling to summer, the days shorten and the temperatures begin to drop.

The seasons come and go and we are reminded that change is inevitable. Some changes we like....and some we dread. Some we see coming and some sneak up on us and take our breath away with their suddeness. But change comes.

Especially in the midst of unexpected and unwelcome change there is great comfort to be found that we serve a Savior who is not surprised by the turn in the road. In fact, He put it there and it is there for the purpose of producing good in us as He shapes us to be more like Him and to bring glory to Himself. That's the promise we have in Romans 8:28-29.

 And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose. For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brethren; (NASB emphasis mine)

I'll close with an illustration I have used before...forgive me for being repetitive. When change comes and we are struggling to understand what possible good God could bring out of the direction our road has taken, it is good to know that we do not see the whole picture. If you were given one piece of a thousand piece puzzle and did not see the box there is very little chance that you would have a clue what the finished puzzle would look like. Remember, God sees all of time and all of creation....He created it all and is working out His divine and perfect purpose. Our life is just a small piece of that puzzle. What peace and joy comes as we trust Him and play our piece in the grand picture!

A friend’s facebook status (thanks, Jackie!) has me thinking about how I often get so busy in my life that I sometimes go long stretches of time when I don’t really live with the awareness of God’s presence in my life. It’s not that He’s not there for He promises to always be with me and as His child I have the Holy Spirit living inside of me. So He’s there but I don’t think about it, I don’t operate in light of what His presence means.

What does living in light of His presence mean? I think there are at least a couple of different ways to answer that question. In one way, living in light of His presence will affect my day to day activities. If I am aware of Him in my life it will affect how I treat others, how I respond to being wronged, etc. In other words, if I am sensitive to Him I will do the right thing….because it pleases Him and brings Him glory. It’s easy to do the right thing when it doesn’t cost me anything, but what about when there is a price. The price might be money….like what I do if I find something in my bags when I get home that didn’t get rung up right or I didn’t pay for? Do I go back to the store, stand in line and pay for it, or do I figure it’s their fault for not ringing it up. Do I go out of my way to be nice to someone who has nothing to offer me or maybe even has wronged me? Do I honor agreements that I made when I could get away with or even rationalize not living up to them? If I’m keeping the reality of His presence in my life in the forefront of my mind I do.

That’s kind of the negative side of it….on the positive side….as I face trials in my life there is such peace in His presence. He is with me; He loves me, He always knows, and has the power to do what is good, right and best in every circumstance.

Let me quote my friend’s status, it is really good advice……”‎... Let my presence override everything you experience. Like a luminous veil of Light, I hover over you and everything around you . I am training you to stay conscious of Me in each situation you encounter ....(Whenever you feel distant from Me, say: "Surely the Lord is in this place!"..Then, ask Me to give you awareness of my Presence. This is a prayer that i delight to answer...”