Psalm 40:1-11
I waited patiently for the Lord;
he inclined to me and heard my cry.
He drew me up from the desolate pit,
out of the miry bog,
and set my feet upon a rock,
making my steps secure.
He put a new song in my mouth,
a song of praise to our God.
I have had a few moments recently when I have experienced sudden shifts of mood or perspective, especially when I am in a quandary about something or someone. The more I try to think my way through the situation, the more tightly the fear or confusion binds itself around my ability to see things clearly.
I pause.
I breathe.
I pray.
God moves my attention to something previously ignored, or discounted by my own prejudice.
My response?
Thanksgiving, song, and freedom to move towards something new!
2 comments:
"The desolate pit"..."the miry bog"...these are place unknown to Mapquest but likely well-known to those who tell the truth.
What happens when, perversely, these places become "comfort zones" for us? At the very least, they can become familiar, and, in this case, familiarity can breed comfort.
Yet, by grace we recognize the peversity of that comfort; by grace we discover this is not where God would have us be.
Still, it's the recovery from the pit, the release from the bog that may be the least comfortable of it all. The perversion returns.
It's like the guy on his rooftop who drowned when the floodwaters engulfed him. He'd refused help from passing rescue boats and helicopters, convinced God would deliver him. And, when he asked God why God had let him drown, God told him, "Time and time, I tried; but every time, you refused."
"I lift up my eyes to the hills; from where is my help to come?" We may know from Whom...it's just a question of, from where?
How true, Phil. Thanks! A clear reminder that what seems like a pull into the wilderness may actually be His hand snatching us THROUGH the wilderness toward His loving purpose for us.
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