Tuesday, October 8, 2019

The Lord Was Watching Over Me

Wednesday, October 9, 2019

O Lord, I have so many enemies; so many are against me.  So many are saying, “God will never rescue him!”      Interlude

But you, O Lord, are a shield around me; you are my glory, the one who holds my head high.  I cried out to the Lord, and he answered me from his holy mountain.  Interlude

I lay down and slept, yet I woke up in safety, for the Lord was watching over me.  I am not afraid of ten thousand enemies who surround me on every side.  Arise, O Lord!  Rescue me, my God!  Slap all my enemies in the face!  Shatter the teeth of the wicked!  Victory comes from you, O Lord.  May you bless your people.  Interlude            Psalm 3:1-8

It comes in the dead of night.  It’s after all the light switches have been turned off, and even the nightlight is not working because the bulb burned out and you forgot your wife requested a replacement (of the lightbulb, not you).  Your body is exhausted because you’ve been anguishing over that lingering possibility that it might all be over in the morning.  Every source of help seems exhausted, tapped; you’re afraid that miracle is just not going to happen.  The gathering storm clouds of doubt are looming over what is going to put an end to your career, your family, or a friendship.  Or that doctor’s appointment in the morning is certain to include mention of getting your affairs in order….and for some unknown reason, that is when you drifted off to sleep.
And when you awakened the next morning, it was somehow different.  The problem was still there, but some new dimension had replaced all the anxiety with peace.  There was a sense that some unseen hand was at work during the night, holding you, taking the bedlam of a nightmare that was developing and, with colors before unknown to you (or anyone, for that matter), shaped a whole new canvass of beautiful strength and joy.  You can’t explain it; you’re at a loss for existing language to describe it, yet there is an understanding.  It is joy, a Gift of something beyond the grasp of human imagination.
The big fisherman, friend of Jesus wrote about this to a church that was going through great difficulty; suffering and persecution had turned off the lights of hope and burned every nightlight bulb.  Peter lit a candle for them – and that light warmed their souls:

That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ:  Whom having not seen, ye love; in whom, though now ye see him not, yet believing, ye rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory:  Receiving the end of your faith, even the salvation of your souls.  1 Peter 1:7-9

Nineteen hundred years later Annie Johnson Flint would echo Peter’s joy unspeakable and full of glory in verse that has brought that peace and joy to thousands:
He giveth more grace when the burdens grow greater,
He sendeth more strength when the labors increase;
To added afflictions He addeth His mercy,
To multiplied trials, His multiplied peace.
When we have exhausted our store of endurance,
When our strength has failed ere the day is half done,
When we reach the end of our hoarded resources
Our Father’s full giving is only begun.
His love has no limits, His grace has no measure,
His power no boundary known unto men;
For out of His infinite riches in Jesus
He giveth, and giveth, and giveth again.[2] 
For You Today
It’s ok…you can lay your head down; just imagine those hands, the ones with the nail prints are your pillow.
You chew on that as you hit the Rocky Road; have a blessed day.  

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[1] Title Image:  Pixabay.com    Unless noted, Scripture used from The New Living Translation©
[2] Annie Flint Johnson, (Watch video) He Giveth More Grace – Gaither Homecoming 


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