Saturday, April 18, 2009

Blessings

Oh my soul, bless God. From head to toe, I'll bless His Holy Name!
Oh my soul, bless God, don't forget a single blessing.
Psalm 103:1-2 (Msg)

It is so easy to focus on the negative in life. We walk through our day and at the end we share the difficulties, the problems, the worries and oh, so often, we fail to remember the blessings in it. Yet, the days that we look at our day and remember the good things, the roses, or even just the rose buds, among the thorns.

Studies have shown that the negative, the bad things that happen to us are more easily remembered than the positives, the good things. Perhaps that is because we rehash the negatives, we replay them over and over in our heads, sometimes out of guilt and remorse or shame and sometimes to try to figure out what went wrong, what we could have done differently. Sometimes it is others who won't let us forgive our mistakes, but nevertheless, it is true that we remember the negative better and longer than we remember the positive.

Psalms 103-108 are strong pulls to remember the good things that happen in our lives. David implores us to remember what God has done, to put it into song, to
"Keep your eyes open for God, watch for His works, be alert for signs of His presence. Remember the world of wonders He has made, His miracles, and the verdicts He's rendered...." Psalm 105:5,6 (Msg)

But David doesn't stop at asking us to do that, he doesn't leave it up to us. Rather, he immediately launches into detailing all the marvelous, miraculous things God had done for His people, as far back as Noah. He examples for us how to remember. He doesn't neglect the foolish things that God's people had done, he doesn't gloss over how Israel turned their back on God time and again, He shows how God's love has stayed constant even when they hurt Him and despised Him and rejected Him.

That gives us hope. Even though we are sinners, even though sometimes (most times!) we fail miserably in following God and obeying His commands, His love is constant, unfailing and merciful. That is not to say that there are not times when we must face the consequences of our actions, those are real and stay the same but God will never forsake us, never fail us when we call on Him to carry us.

Psalm 107 spoke to me this morning because it is so appropriate to our lives, and point at specific circumstances that we suffer. Some wandered in the desert, looking but not finding a good place to live; Some were locked in a dark cell, cruelly confined behind bars; Some of you were sick because you'd lived a bad life; Some of you set sail in big ships, you put out to sea to do business in faraway ports, storms tossed you until you didn't know which end was up; and in every case He got you out in the nick of time.

The truth is that no matter life's circumstances or shat we experience or suffer, God can and will get us out when we call on Him. Sadly we usually wait until we are desperate, until we have exhausted every other avenue of help and used up all our own will-power and then, hanging from the end of our rope, we cry out to God and He rescues us, just in the nick of time.

I admonish you this morning to cry out to God, to save you from the situation you are struggling with. Right now, this moment, He is waiting to hear your plea for salvation. He is calling you to Himself, begging you to let Him help you. Also, remember the blessings God has given you in your life. Reflect on what has happened, on what He has done for you. Write them down, give yourself a history to look back on when you begin to doubt God's love for you. His love is never-failing and I am positive you will find evidence of that in your life when you begin to look for it.

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