Psalm 119:176

Psalm 119:176 “I have wandered away like a lost sheep; come and find me, for I have not forgotten your commands.”

When I was in college, I took a summer job in Yellowstone making change and filling vending machines at the coin laundry at one of the tourist stops. On one of my days off, I decided to walk the trail along both sides of the Canyon, crossing above the upper falls. Since my co-workers and I all had different days off, I went alone.

I was fine as long as the trail was within hearing distance of the road, but after a while the trail and the road parted ways. It was quiet. Nobody else was out walking then, and I started to worry about bears. This was a reasonable concern, because bears frequented that area enough that tourists were not allowed to camp there with tents or tent-trailers. Only hard-sided campers were permitted. My fear grew with each step I took in the silence, and I knew that I needed to make some kind of noise so any bears wouldn’t be taken by surprise and attack.

It had been four years since I’d been to church, and I never thought about God back then. But as I searched for a song to sing to keep the bears away, only two songs came to mind: “The B-I-B-L-E” and “Jesus Loves Me.” They were all I remembered from my growing-up years in Sunday School. So I sang them, over and over, as long as the trail kept me away from other people, and I was comforted.

There have been other times, too, in my life when I’ve wandered away from the Lord without even noticing. All of a sudden I’ll look around and see that I’m alone, lost in a wilderness of my own making, not knowing how to get back. And all I can do is cry out, “Lord, come and find me!” And the joy is that He comes and leads me back into the fold.

Have you been wandering? When you look around at your spiritual life, what do you see? Is there only a bleak emptiness you don’t recognize? Remember the word of the Lord and call out to Him. He will come and find you, because He’s already there.

May you always stay close to your Shepherd.

Brenda

Romans 13:7

Romans 13:7 “Give everyone what you owe him: If you owe taxes, pay taxes; if revenue, then revenue; if respect, then respect; if honor, then honor.”

Romans 14:23 “But the man who has doubts is condemned if he eats, because his eating is not from faith; and everything that does not come from faith is sin.”

I went to the gas station a few days ago--the kind where you can put cash in the machine by the pump without having to go all the way inside to pay. I was pretty sure I took a twenty and a ten out of my purse and stuck them in the machine. I thought I saw it say I put $30 in, but I was going through familiar motions and not watching closely. When I got back to the pump, it said I had $40 available.

That’s when I started to doubt myself. Maybe I really did put in two twenties. By the time I had filled up the tank--just over $30--I was no longer sure of anything, so I went in, collected my change, and drove home. Then I checked my purse, and my ten-dollar bill wasn’t there. I really should have paid them a little extra instead of collecting change, no matter what the receipt said. But there was still the tiniest bit of doubt.

The next time I went to the gas station, I took the receipt and $10, but I didn’t want to go in and look like an idiot by giving them money the receipt said I didn’t owe. I thought about giving the money to my church instead, but that felt as wrong as keeping it did. So I finally went inside, told the cashier what I believed had happened, gave him the receipt and money, and I left. I felt foolish. I felt good.

It’s easy to believe that our character reveals itself in how we handle the larger issues in life. But the Lord also looks at the way we handle the small things. He watches what we do when nobody will notice. He sees the way we let things slide. And He knows when we have doubts about the rightness of our actions. Our “little” sins condemn us just as surely as would the big sins we can’t imagine committing. And the Lord cares just as much about the little sins that separate us from Him.

May He help each one of us be on our guard against the doubts and temptations that might pull us into sin.

Brenda

Psalm 37:23 – 24

Psalm 37:23 – 24 “The steps of the godly are directed by the Lord. He delights in every detail of their lives. Though they stumble, they will not fall, for the Lord holds them by the hand.”

This passage presents a challenge for me. I don’t have a problem with the very beginning, because I know our steps are directed by the Lord. But I tend to see those steps as the big ones—which church we choose, our career, how we raise our children, whether our financial decisions include tithing.

It’s harder to imagine Him caring about all the little mundane details of my life, let alone delighting in them. Brushing my teeth, going to the grocery store, pumping gas, loading the dishwasher. Does God really delight in these things? They don’t seem worthy of His notice.

But it says right there that He does. Every detail of our lives. When I come and when I go. When I hit the snooze button in the morning one more time. When bright red seeds from the overhanging trees peek up from cracks in the sidewalk and catch my eye, He takes delight.

And when I get weary to the bone from too long a workday and not enough play time, He knows that detail too. Not only does He direct my steps, He holds me by the hand. I need that because sometimes I stumble. I need Him to keep me from falling when I do. I need Him to hold my head up and reassure me of His presence when all I feel is emptiness and all I hear is silence. I need this reminder in the Psalms that He doesn’t just put up with me. He delights in me.

Are you in need of a reminder too? Has your life become a struggle against all the boring routine of work-home-repeat? Have you lost sight of the pleasure God takes in you just being you? Then, look to the Psalms again and let them sink in.

May we remember that the Lord holds us by the hand and takes delight in all we do.

Brenda

Job 9:8

Job 9:8 “He alone stretches out the heavens and treads on the waves of the sea.”

Psalm 33:22 “May your unfailing love rest upon us, O Lord, even as we put our hope in you.”

In Paris, the Place de L’Etoile is where the Arc de Triomphe sits in the center of a huge traffic circle, and twelve streets lead away from the circle like spokes from a hub. Tourists tend to get stuck driving around and around the circle, unable either to find the right street to take or to get over to it in time.

That’s what my life feels like right now. I’m stuck in a job that has me endlessly doing the same thing, and I desperately want out but I don’t know what to do instead. The job market around here has been dead for the past several years, and I don’t know whether to wait for it to open up, look for something out of state, or try for a career change. My prayers about all of this have been met with silence.

Finally, I went down to the beach in the late afternoon to talk to the Lord undisturbed. The sky was overcast with heavy gray clouds that darkened the ocean. The roar of the breaking waves drowned out any other sounds. It was just me and the Lord on the sand at the edge of the sea.

I didn’t tell Him as much as I expected to, and He said even less. But as I stood there watching wave after wave break and slide up the sand, I heard in my head, “Be still and know that I am God.” And I felt a sense of calm that had eluded me for months.

I still don’t have any answers about which road to take. All I have is “Be still,” and yet that’s enough. I don’t have to worry about finding the right road, or panic at possibly missing my turn. He is God and I can rest in Him until He makes the answer clear.

Are you stuck going in circles in your life? Are you in a quandary that seems to have no solution? Maybe it’s time to stop chasing after the answers. Maybe it’s time to stop ceaselessly telling the Lord about it and take a little time to just be still. Let His unfailing love rest upon you, and find again the hope you have in Him and the peace He gives freely to those who are His.

Brenda