Daily Devotional - 9/10/10 (10/10/09)

Prayer Focus - Family



Day 3


Pray for:
One family member that you feel close to
One family member that you are not close to
One family member that lives far away from you


Pray about:
Their physical needs
Their mental needs
Their emotional needs
Their spiritual needs


Dear Lord - Help me to listen to You each and every day and please grant me the strength to obey.





Psalms 40




"I waited patiently for the Lord: He turned to me and heard my cry.  He lifted me out of the slimy pit, out of the mud and mire; He set my feet on a rock and gave me a firm place to stand.  He put a new song in my mouth, a hymn of praise to our God.  Many will see and put their trust in the Lord.

Blessed is the man who makes the Lord his trust, who does not look to the proud, to those who turn aside to false gods.  Many, O Lord my God, are the wonders You have done.  The things You planned for us no one can recount to You; were I to speak and tell of them, they would be too many to declare." (vs 1-5)



Blessed is the man who makes the Lord his trust. One online dictionary defines blessed as enjoying the bliss of heaven. I like that definition. If I can hang onto my trust in God and I do not give in to worry or running after other gods such as money or security, then I can enjoy the bliss of heaven down here. I can go about happy in the midst of chaos and trouble because I can see it as all in God's hands and all in His plans. I have started to try and look at life this way. Although I am far from perfecting my focus, it is getting better. Today, for example, whenever something unexpected or unfortunate happened, I asked God what I needed to see in this.  I tried to see the bigger picture so that I could understand where God was going with everything that was happening in my life. It has been good for me to focus this way and it has been good for me to remember that God does have plans for me. In fact, God has so many plans for me and for each one of us that we wouldn't be able to even recount them. How amazing is that! Plus, He makes these plans for us because He loves us, not because He is trying to control us!  He dreams of giving us the best life and the best eternity. Surely we can trust Him.

Yet, day to day life can hinder us in trusting Him.  It is not as easy as it seems it should be. We can get to the point where we feel we are in a slimy pit and need rescuing as the psalmist states.  My life schedule can make me feel that way.  When I am working, I am going nonstop from 4 AM to 11 PM.  It is exhausting to even think of all that I have to do and I can easily get overwhelmed.  I have to keep my focus and keep telling myself that I am waiting patiently for God. I am putting one foot in front of the other. I am walking and waiting. When I do this, good things happen, when I don't disaster.  For example, yesterday, I worked hard trying to take care of all my business so that I could get to the computer and write this devotional.  I began to struggle with feeling overwhelmed at about 9:00 pm as I tried to get my children to bed.  I knew that my night of cleaning, straightening, and other tasks was just beginning.  When I began to think about everything else on my to do list, I began to get frustrated and upset. I began to sink like Peter did when he was walking on the water and stopped looking to Jesus ( Matt 14: 22-33 ).  I had to stop and remind myself that I had I accomplished quite a bit during the day, however, and that had only happened because I had not worried about what else I needed to get done. I just kept going.  I was finally able to sit down at the computer at 11:22 pm but I was so tired I couldn't even finish writing.  I had to give up and go to bed.


I was sad about this at first but I had to remind myself that I will not be able to do everything that needs being done.  And besides, it might not even be God's will for me at this time.  With my schedule, it is impossible for me to do everything.  At times I feel like sitting down and crying - but God knows what I need to get done.  He has a plan for me and He has always had my back so to speak when I can't finish something up.  He has heard my cry and He will hear my cry.  He helps me to able to keep myself under control when I turn to Him and He helps me to not give in to my growing frustration.  He lifts me out of what feels like an endless pit of work on a daily basis and puts me in a safe place. With His help, last night, I was able to get my children to bed. With His help, I was able to get Joelle's asthma under control. With His help, I got most of my housework done. With His help, I worked a bit on this writing, and then finally, with His help, I was able to accept that I needed to go to bed and let go of what "I" felt needed to be done.  God does grant sleep to those He loves! (Psalm 127:1-2).

Tomorrow will start another overwhelming day, but God will be there as well. He will continue to place my feet on solid rock so that I may stand.  He will keep me walking on water if I keep focused on Him. I can not look to the future or it will overwhelm me.  I can only look to now and live it to the full as God intended.  He is able and He will help me.  I love the quote used in Messies Anonymous, a site I have found very beneficial in my fight against my messie nature.  It states, "Never underestimate the inevitability of gradualness." I can do gradualness. I can do one step at a time. And God is there. He gives us a new song, a song of praise. I do have a new song and I will keep singing.




Prayer for the Day



Dear Lord,


We have made it through another day. We cry out to You as we are waiting and struggling. It often feels like we are slip sliding away. But we are not. Keep our focus on You and keep us climbing up the hill, one step at a time. Help us to keep our eyes on You so that we can get out of the boat and walk on water. You told Peter to come. You did not think he was foolish to ask to walk on water. You just said come. We desire to walk on water. We need help keeping our eyes on You and not on the waves and the water. Keep us in your care and Help us to see that You are in control. Bless us as we put our trust in You. We want to experience the bliss of heaven down here. We need this to stay refreshed. We are grateful for all of the plans You have for us and we pray to walk in them. Be pleased to save us Lord because we need saving. We are poor and needy, and You are our help and deliverer. We wait in eager expectation. We wait patiently. Most of all, we just wait.


In Jesus' name,
Amen



QFT



1. Am I waiting patiently for God? How do I know?

2. Am I trusting in God? How do I know? What fruit is this producing?

3. How can I keep my focus on God when there are storms raging around me?

4. What is my new song? Am I singing it?  Am I really living and thinking differently than I used to? How do I see this?

5. Am I following God's plans for me or my own?  Do I have any ideas what some of God's plans for my life might be? How could I find out?