Waiting.............. Psalm 119:81-88

How many times a day do we have to wait for something... It could be the microwave popcorn, grocery store line, waiting to pump gas or waiting for our children or spouse or friend to get ready and get going. I think these are all ways that God helps us to wait on Him. He has a plan for our lives but I certainly would like to hurry it along sometimes. I guess the real questions is how do we handle the waiting... Do I complain, get angry, or frustrated when things are not in my timing.. Well I certainly know that when I have not met with God and done some searching of my soul that my fuse is much shorter... What to remember... God will preserve my life according to His love and I just need to obey the statutes of His mouth. Learning to wait on God is a real lesson in obedience.

Affliction.........................Psalm 119:65-72

It seems that the Psalmist has been afflicted which has turned out to be a good thing. He states in verse 67 that before he was afflicted that he went astray but now he keeps God's words. He even says in verse 71 that it is "good for me that I was afflicted". I must say that affliction is never easy when you are in it... It is hard to imagine I might "want" to be afflicted. I have not had any physical afflictions to date so I cannot imagine people who have chronic pain and the endless torture that they go through. Does anyone reading this blog have any comments about how "affliction" has been a good thing?

Psalm 119:49-56 Comfort

Oh how I love to be comfortable... There is nothing better than to sink down into a soft chair with the warm sun on my face and just relax and be comfortable. Wouldn't it be great if life was always that comfortable. Unfortunately, we have jobs, children, neighbors, disease, death to name a few to make us uncomfortable. It is easy to get into a pattern of just making our lives comfortable but I usually feel like something is about to happen when I start to feel comfortable. God might move us to another state, my husband may lose his job or we might have a death in the family. Verse 50 says "My comfort in my suffering is this: Your promise preserves my life." What a wonderful thing to remember when things big or small just are not going our way. Do you have comfort in God's promise to preserve your life for eternity?

Psalm 119:41-48 Freedom

I just love verse 45... I will walk about in freedom for I have sought out your precepts." As we are approaching the 4th of July holiday which celebrates our countries freedom, this verse reminds me that I am free of all the stress of the world because God is in control of everything. How freeing that thought is to anyone who knows Christ. I am thankful for my freedom.

Worthy or worthless?

As I am reading the verse about turning my eyes away from worthless things, I am reminded of the challenge we all face when we open our eyes in the morning. How many of the things that I have are worthy? It is nice to have "things" but are they "worthless" or "worthy". As I was downloading some childhood photos last month I was struck by my desire to skip over all the photos that were not of people. The photos of things and places were not very significant but the photo of my sister and I together made my heart swell with joy! The things I have will all pass away so please Lord help me to remember this today. You will preserve my life according to your word.

Give me understanding

Verse 34 says "Give me understanding, and I will keep your law and obey it with all my heart".. I think God must have quite a sense of humor when it comes to our understanding.. To think that He created all things and we humans spend our whole lives just trying to understand what he was able to create in 7 days... Pretty amazing to realize how little we know.

I sure feel like I do not understand many things that happen to me on a daily basis. Relationships are right up there when it comes to "miss" understanding. Why did God wire men and women so differently but want them to live together in harmony in the same house? I guess so we will always depend on Him for understanding. Thanks to the bible we see that ALL humans throughout history have struggled with the same issues and no one has quite figured out the formula for a completely successful human relationship. Like I said, I think God has a great sense of humor...

Paths

"I run in the path of your commands, for you have set my heart free".... Running in the path of any trail can be tricky. Since I am a runner there have been many times when the running path is a huge puddle, full of blackberry thornes, or has hidden roots which make me trip bu how different the path of God's commands. They are pure and clear of all distractions there is nothing there to trip me up. It does not always seem clear to me when I first try to read the commands but after time with the Lord he will usually always reveal the truth that he wants me to know. What a benefit to have my heart set free.. Free from all the pains, doubts and sorrows of this world. God is good he provides so much more than we need.