Showing posts with label psalm 29. Show all posts
Showing posts with label psalm 29. Show all posts

In the Wilderness




me and chris
In preparation for a session I'm doing tomorrow, I studied one of my favorite psalms this morning. You know what's so cool? The word of God is alive  - it never changes but always reached into whatever state we are and brings new life. I've read Psalm 29 thousands of times. I've taught from it. But here I am looking at it with new eyes. We change - the word doesn't. But it miraculously reaches into our situations time and time again to bring new insights for us. 

So in verse 8, David says the voice of the Lord shakes the wilderness. I am the first to say that it doesn't sound pleasant. It sounds a bit scary really. But there are two significant things that will help change our perspectives. The first thing I want to think about is the term wilderness. Before I started hiking I assumed a wilderness was a dry, barren desert region. This is absolutely not so. Living in Lousiana gave me access to the Kistachie Wilderness area. As I drove there the first time I wondered how it would all turn to desert. What I found was a mountainous region beaming with plants and animals of all kinds. It wasn't barren at all - just undeveloped and mostly untouched by man. 

As caregivers, we can feel like we are in a desert area - no life, no water. Or we may feel we are in a wilderness with life all around us but people are missing. It's a lonely place, the wilderness. But there is life there. There are water and food available. It's rugged and rough but we can keep moving through it. It's not a pleasant place - but we survive day after day.

Now let's look at the word "shake." It may seem like it has a negative connotation to it. But when you look it up in the original, it can mean to bring to birth. Wait. We're talking about the wilderness  - dry and deserted. A lonely place it is. We can't do much but survive - and survive we do! When God shakes our wilderness, it brings forth life. That's right - smack dab in the middle of the most difficult seasons of our lives - He brings birth. 

Today, I will wait for Him to birth life in the seemingly dead areas of my life. I'll wait for His breath to breathe life into my tired soul. Isn't that amazing? He is the author of life - and He'll share it with me to make sure I survive the wildernesses of life. I'm going to watch for His touch today and see how He brings life into my situations. I'll trust Him for breath today. Will you join me?



Fuel for the Journey

Did you ever have one of those days where you wish you could find the off switch? Or think about the luxury of crawling back in the bed for the day? We know the detrimental effects of sleep deprivation, and don't you just love it when someone starts going down the list of all the really bad things that can be caused by not getting enough sleep? Like we can do anything about it! It's the same as if we went to an impoverished country where they didn't have enough food available and tried to tell them they need to eat a balanced diet!

There are just those days when caregivers give out. It won't last too long though because there's simply too much to do to even get to sit and think about it for more than a minute. And if we have more than a minute to sit it's likely we'd nod off! lol!

Where does the strength to carry on come from? -the Lord is the obvious answer! I have found that when I really cannot go on putting one foot in front of the other He will carry me if need be! One of my favorite scriptures on this in found in Psalm 29. I write about it, sing  about it and have taught it for years!

The first verse tells us to ascribe to the Lord glory and strength. Ascribe simple means to give. So right up it tells us to give Him our strength. Then the last verse says May the Lord give strength to His people. Situated between these two verses are all sorts of descriptions of His strength and His sound (or voice) and the effects it has on those who hear it. This powerful God wants to trade strength with us.  We'll give Him all ours and then He will give us all His...doesn't seem like too much of a fair trade huh? But since I'm on this end of it I like it!

Today think about giving Him all your strength...and receiving all of His strength - it's fuel for the journey!

The Stare

  Do you ever just find yourself sitting and staring at the wall? It doesn't really happen too often because, quite frankly, who has tim...