20 February 2008

His Love Endures FOREVER
(Did you happen to catch that, Jessica,
or should I say it 26 more times?)

After a very long night of not being able to sleep with an 'unspoken' on my heart and mind, I got up this morning extremely drained, both physically and mentally. Spiritually, I felt determined, but just didn't know 'where to go' from here. What I should or shouldn't do. What I should or shouldn't say. And fighting the tendancy to get discouraged all the way.
I got in the car to go to work and looked down at my 'travel' Bible that I keep in my car. I opened it up to look for some sort of guidance or at least reassurance. And I turned to Psalm 136... as there was a Baskin Robbins sample spoon still stuck in there (not literally stuck however... I assure you, I managed to get every last drop of that Chocolate Truffle off of that thing last week!). They had been discussing one of the other chapters from that page last week on the radio, but this time when I opened it up, I looked down at chapter 136 and read:


New International Version (NIV)Passage Psalm 136 :
~Psalm 136

1 Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good.
His love endures forever.

2 Give thanks to the God of gods.
His love endures forever.

3 Give thanks to the Lord of lords:
His love endures forever.

4 to Him who alone does great wonders,
His love endures forever.

5 who by His understanding made the heavens,
His love endures forever.

6 who spread out the earth upon the waters,
His love endures forever.

7 who made the great lights—
His love endures forever.

8 the sun to govern the day,
His love endures forever.

9 the moon and stars to govern the night;
His love endures forever.

10 to Him who struck down the firstborn of Egypt
His love endures forever.

11 and brought Israel out from among them
His love endures forever.

12 with a mighty hand and outstretched arm;
His love endures forever.

13 to Him who divided the Red Sea
asunder
His love endures forever.

14 and brought Israel through the midst of it,
His love endures forever.

15 but swept Pharaoh and his army into the Red Sea;
His love endures forever.

16 to Him who led His people through the desert,
His love endures forever.

17 who struck down great kings,
His love endures forever.

18 and killed mighty kings—
His love endures forever.

19 Sihon king of the Amorites
His love endures forever.

20 and Og king of Bashan—
His love endures forever.

21 and gave their land as an inheritance,
His love endures forever.

22 an inheritance to His servant Israel;
His love endures forever.

23 to the One who remembered us in our low estate
His love endures forever.

24 and freed us from our enemies,
His love endures forever.

25 and who gives food to every creature.
His love endures forever.

26 Give thanks to the God of heaven.
His love endures forever!


And I just thought: "Wow. Do I need to be knocked upside the head to get a message, or what!" : ) I'm surprised Chris Tomlin didn't just pop up on the radio belting it out and that I didn't literally just get struck down by a flash of lightning right then and there! Was He like telling me in no uncertain terms that He had it in the bag or what? Not to worry. Just let Him deal with it and all I needed to do right now was trust Him and have a spirit of thanksgiving? I mean, if He can not only understand the heavens and earth, but actually created them and thought them up and keeps them all in perfect tandem? ... I'm feeling pretty certain that He could 'tackle' my measly problems without so much as batting an eye.
And just in case I didn't get the full grasp of how intricate a system the 'heavenlies' actually are this morning when I read that passage... tonight we watched the total lunar eclipse. And instead of being enlightened, I think we all ended up with more questions than answers!! : ) I guess there are just some things that were not meant for us to know or understand. For, therein lies both faith and reverence.

Thank You, Father. For those things we can't see with our eyes or even our spirits at times. And thank You for the reassurance that in those times, even though certain things are hidden from our view, much like in the eclipse tonight, You still have it all in Your hands, understand it all and don't miss a thing!

~Amen

4 comments:

Brad and Shana said...

Jess~

A friend of mine left me a comment on one of my posts where I was lamenting about our wait for Malley. I thought it was so great, and it really enlightened my thought process, so I'll share it. I hope you find it helpful & applicable.....

"Many times, I wish the Father would give us a glimpse at all the "why" questions, but then, it would perhaps be easier to trust. It's our gift to Him to persevere in our faith, without understanding."

That last sentence gets me.......

It's our gift to Him to persevere in our faith, without understanding.

Wow!! That is some Godly wisdom right there, but it sure is hard to do. I think the Father will bless us for our desire even when we fall short.

Bask in his enduring love today,
Shana

Michele said...

Great post, Jess. You're so on the right track. You are trusting God-that's all we can do.

Dianne said...

Okay....I have been BAD and I apologize! I haven't been blog reading like I should be and have missed out on a LOT with you. I have LOVED reading everything and catching up tonight. Seems like you've not had a 'dull moment' in a while, huh? :-)

Joanne@ Blessed... said...

I had wanted to see that eclipse too..but I was unfortunately working. The pictures sure are beautiful.

Hey, I wanted to ask you..I noticed you have a Ruth Bell Graham book called 'Letters in the attic' by her. What did you think of that book? I am an admitted Ruth groupie...I think she is just such an amazing example of godliness in a woman.

I would love to hear what you thought of that book.

Blessings my friend!