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Psalm 121

A song of ascents.

¹ I lift up my eyes to the mountains—
    where does my help come from?
² My help comes from the Lord,
    the Maker of heaven and earth.

³ He will not let your foot slip—
    he who watches over you will not slumber;
⁴ indeed, he who watches over Israel
    will neither slumber nor sleep.

⁵ The Lord watches over you—
    the Lord is your shade at your right hand;
⁶ the sun will not harm you by day,
    nor the moon by night.

⁷ The Lord will keep you from all harm—
    he will watch over your life;
⁸ the Lord will watch over your coming and going
    both now and forevermore.

 

Here is the truth, for me at least - sometimes it's hard to believe that God will keep us from all harm because sometimes we feel like we are being harmed.  How do the two things go together?  When I talk to people who aren't believers, sometimes it's the one thing that is holding them back.  How could a loving God allow _______ to happen to me?

 

I am afraid I do not have some amazing answer to wipe away all doubt.  Still, I choose to take God at His word and if He says He will keep from all harm, then I believe Him.

 

What then must I do with these things I perceive as harm, those "light and momentary troubles" which don't necessarily feel light and momentary to me?  Maybe I need to look at that verse in it's entirety. "For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all." (2 Corinthians 4:17)  Eternal - that's the key for me.  The ultimate end.  What seems like harm at the moment means nothing when compared to eternity and my eternity is with Christ.  When I look back at some of the major troubles in my life, they have played a key role in bringing me to Christ.  I don't always understand this journey God has me on, but I trust Him.

 

The part of Psalm 121 which brings me the most comfort is verse 4.  God watches over me.  He will neither sleep nor slumber.  He watches every single move I make. Verse 8 says He will watch over my coming and going both now and forevermore.  Do you remember when you were little and you just wanted your mom to watch you.  How many times do we hear our kids say, "Mom, watch me?'  How great was it to know your mom was watching?  It made you feel important, it made you feel special, it made you feel loved and it made you feel safe.  But Mom couldn't watch you all the time.  She had other kids she had to watch.  She had chores to do and sometimes, she took you to the park to play so she could sit and talk with her girlfriends.  But because God is God, He can watch you ALWAYS.  What a comfort it is to me to know He is always watching.  That means that nothing that happens in my life is a surprise to Him.  He sees it before it happens and He knows exactly how He is going to use it to shape my life.  If He is right there watching all the time, and I KNOW He is a loving God, then I have to believe that all the things that happen in my life, even the things I perceive as harm, must really be for my ultimate good?  After all, what mother would watch her child and see harm headed his way and not do anything in her power to stop it?   Unless,  she believed her child might actually learn something by allowing him to deal with whatever it was she saw coming.  If our parents care for us this much, how much more does God care for us?

 

 

plans

Genesis 27 tells the story of how Rebekah and Jacob deceived Isaac to get the blessing he intended to give Esau.  This story really spoke to me this week.  Rebekah knew what God had promised.  He  had told her back when she was pregnant:

“Two nations are in your womb,
and two peoples from within you will be separated;
one people will be stronger than the other,
and the older will serve the younger.” (Genesis 25:23)

She knew all this and yet  as she heard her husband plotting to try and change this, she let fear creep in.  That fear led her to take matters into her own hands.  She and Jacob tricked Isaac and he gave the blessing to Jacob instead.
Rebekah got what she wanted.  Rebekah got what she knew God had intended but what did she miss out on? What consequences did she have to endure because of her deceit? God would have followed through on His promise - He ALWAYS does.  He didn't need Rebekah's help.
How many times have I let fear cause me to take matters into my own hands?  I know what God has promised me.  Yet, I feel like He needs my help when it doesn't look like things are moving in that direction.  Isn't that ridiculous?  As I read it back to myself, it makes me laugh out loud.  This is the same God who spoke the world into being, the same God who parted the Red Sea so the Israelites could cross over on dry ground, the same God who empowered David to take down Goliath with a single stone, the same God who brought my fiance' (now my husband) back to me when I thought our relationship had been irretrievably broken, the same God who healed my daughter when she fell on her head and was knocked unconscious, the same God who has guided us through 2 cross country moves, the same God who saw a tired, confused, cynical, depressed and abandoned 19 year old girl and redeemed her life.  That is a God who certainly does not need my help.
I wonder how God would have caused Jacob to receive the blessing had Rebekah not stepped in.  What would she have seen?  How would her faith have grown because of how she saw God work out His plan, His good and perfect plan?
My challenge right now is to learn from Rebekah's mistake and try not to let that fear overwhelm me to the point of trying to take matters into my own hands.  I want to be excited about the things God is going to do and to be completely trusting of His will.  I don't want to miss out on the many blessings along the way and I certainly don't want to have to suffer the consequences of my bad behavior.
I want God to get all the glory for the amazing God He is.  I want to stand in awe on the other side of the road because I can't believe how I got there.