Little Chats With God

Why are you depressed, O my soul? Why so troubled within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise Him, my Saviour and my God.

Psalm 42:11Psalm 42:11
English: World English Bible - WEB
11 Why are you in despair, my soul? Why are you disturbed within me? Hope in God! For I shall still praise him, The saving help of my countenance, and my God.

Lord, I love it that Your Word is so honest. It doesn’t pretend that everyone who served You was up all the time. It records the down times, as well.

By the sound of this, the Psalmist was pretty down when he wrote it. He had been cut off from worship in the Temple, and feels as though You have cut him off. What’s more, he had to deal with the taunts of those who saw his predicament as a sign that You didn’t even exist, and that his faith in You was both unfounded and stupid.

All he could do was remember “the good old days”, and how he had delighted in being in Your presence.

I know where he was coming from. Lord, it’s really horrible when You go silent. There are times when Your presence seems to have retreated to the farthest corner of the universe, and my prayers don’t seem to even get as high as the ceiling. I beat myself up, trying to find what sin I have committed that has excluded me from Your presence. I feel forsaken, and I don’t understand why. At those times, I really understand this psalm.

Yet even in the midst of it, the psalmist sees something else. He gives himself this pep talk, reminding himself that You are still his God and Saviour. It’s like he’s saying to himself, “Even if you can see nothing, even if you can feel nothing, even if you can understand nothing, reach out by faith and take hold of the truth you know.”

Lord, my preference would be never to have to go through those dry times. But if I must go through them, help me, like the Psalmist, to continue to put my hope in You.

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There is one God, and one mediator between God and people, the man Christ Jesus (1 Timothy 2:51 Timothy 2:5
English: World English Bible - WEB
5 For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus,

Therefore encourage one another and build each other up…

1 Thessalonians 5:111 Thessalonians 5:11
English: World English Bible - WEB
11 Therefore exhort one another, and build each other up, even as you also do.

Lord, I get so tired of knockers. You know the ones I mean - the people who are always negative about everything. No matter what you’re doing, it’s not good enough. No matter what your plans, they haven’t got an ice cube’s hope in hell of succeeding. And if you’re feeling a bit down and say that you can’t do something, they will agree with you quickly and wholeheartedly. Just being around people like that pulls you down.

How refreshing it is to meet someone who, instead of knocking, lifts others up. Instead of seeing the negatives, they focus on the positives. Problems become opportunities. They appreciate your efforts, and recognize your talent even if it is only latent. They encourage you to believe that all your dreams can come true, and build you up to see more in yourself than you ever could.

I guess, Lord, that to be like that we have to be able to see people as You see them. It always amazes me to know that You can look at a drunk in the gutter, or a drug addict, or an habitual criminal, and see beyond what they are to what You created. It’s not that You are unaware of what people have done with their lives, or that You don’t hold them accountable. But as well as the present You see the past - the fact that You created them in Your image. And You see the potential future - what their lives could be, even now, if they turn to You and accept Your grace.

Lord, help me to see people through Your eyes, and seeing their potential to lift and encourage them to fulfill that potential, rather than knocking them down.

Do you like Little Chats With God?

Buy the book at http://www.lulu.com/content/paperback_book/my_little_chats_with_god/6099303.

This blog is © copyright Lynn Fowler.

There is one God, and one mediator between God and people, the man Christ Jesus (1 Timothy 2:51 Timothy 2:5
English: World English Bible - WEB
5 For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus,

 “A bruised reed he will not break, and a smoldering wick he will not snuff out.” Isaiah 42:3Isaiah 42:3
English: World English Bible - WEB
3 A bruised reed will he not break, and a dimly burning wick will he not quench: he will bring forth justice in truth.

I watched a show on TV a while ago, Lord, about a young boy in one of the Nazi training schools. Any hint of weakness was met with harshness and humiliation in an effort to break the boys’ wills and bring them into conformation to the system.

Of course, the Nazi regime is not the only place where such attitudes have been found. It is reflected in teachers who belittle their students; in the judges of TV talent shows who think that to make themselves look good they must humiliate the contestants; even in churches that look down on anyone who is struggling in his Christian walk.

I’m so glad You put this verse in Your Word, Lord, and that it assures us that You are not like that.

You are holy, righteous and just, yet You understand people’s weakness. Even when people are at their lowest ebb - morally, socially or emotionally - You don’t cut them off. You called David back after he committed adultery and murder, and continued to bless his reign. When Elijah hit the pits of despair, You assured him that he was not alone, but that there were many who served You. You refused to judge the woman caught in adultery, but told her to go and sin no more. After Peter denied You, You called him to feed Your sheep. You picked up prostitutes, tax collectors, lepers, the poor and the weak, and lifted them to a new level.

Lord, help me to be, like You, one who would bind up the bruised reeds, standing beside them till they are strong enough to stand for themselves, rather than one who would chop them down.