by David Brenneman
"But as for me, I shall sing of Your strength; Yes, I shall joyfully sing of Your lovingkindness in the morning, For You have been my stronghold And a refuge in the day of my distress." Psalm 59:16.
Driven from his home and everything he knew, David- who had been anointed by God to be the future king of Israel-ran for his life. Humanly, it made no sense. He was pursued by King Saul, who should have been his mentor but instead had gone mad with envy and rage. So for years, rather than learning the intricacies of the throne, David lived the forsaken life of a fugitive.
Everyone he loved or who helped him was in danger, and some were
even killed. The only people who followed him were in trouble or
in debt or ... were just discontented" (1 Samuel 22:2 NLT).
So how could David wake up in the morning with praise in his heart? As a boy in the sheep fields, he wrote and sang songs of
worship and praise to God. And as he fled, those hymns- which today comprise much of the book of Psalms-rose within him as a constant reminder of the Lord's closeness, protection, and deliverance. Had David fixated on his circumstances, he would have
become hopelessly discouraged. But instead he focused on God's
love and promises and received the encouragement he needed to
persevere and honor the Lord in all he did.
Jesus, help me to focus on You and praise You in every situation. Amen.
Trusting God with Today, Dr. Charles Stanley.
Distractions distractions distractions everybody deals with distractions. Sinful tendencies and temptations within and the effects of the outpouring of the hearts of those around us.
We can have people in our lives that are no different than those whom Job had in his. We can have just those of the world in our lives. We can be inundated by subtle and subliminal messages. We can be certain that we are going to have these to deal with. Yet in our examples in the Gospels from our Savior and Lord Jesus Christ...take the time to get away with Him.
We are going to be tempted to lean on our own understanding in situations in life. We're going to get told how our lives should be by well meaning people and by those who have no vested interest in our success but rather their own peace of mind. It's the way of our world.
King David knew of the need to praise God anyway. When he was at rest, when people chased him. When things were going wrong as well as when they were going right.
We can be so fixated on a situation that we can't see beyond it. That's a prime example of a situation that doesn't belong in our hands.
We can give this and every situation into God's hands to resolve but take care as to not take it back.
"Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus." Philippians 4:6-7.
Dr. Stanley's life Principle #2 "Obey God and leave the consequences to Him" comes to mind as well.
We cannot pray for God to provide and then be impatient about His timing for doing so. We cannot permit frustration between ourselves and God. We are indeed to follow this other principle of life "Trust in the Lord with all your heart And do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him and He will make your paths straight." Proverbs 3:5-6.
My Friend do not get ahead of God's plan for you. Do not run ahead of Jesus. We run this race called life by being along side of Jesus. As a friend has correctly pointed out to our Saturday group...in any race with Jesus who will always win?
Our focus must stay on where Jesus is, what He is doing, where He is leading. Not on the storms going on around us. Those storms cannot deter the will of God for us in Christ Jesus. The storms are going to be there in our lives but Jesus is always also going to be there too. That's His promise.
Pray that your eyes stay on Jesus and to seek Him in the morning every day. Seek Him throughout the day. Thank Him at the end of every day.
Has Jesus ever broken a promise? Why live as though today will be the day when that's to happen?
Stand firm in the Lord. Keep your eyes focused on Him in your life.
Run the race set before you with Jesus. Things will be ok.
All NASB Scripture Excerpts used by permission.
New American Standard Bible
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