When reality becomes surreal…
I was sitting in a waiting area today and the news was on.
In a matter of minutes, I saw two gruesome and senseless murder scenes being investigated…
three candidates exchanging barbs with an appropriately diverse group of supporters standing behind each one…
a political expert analyzing the candidates and pointedly leading viewers to ascertain there is only one right choice come November…
and a Hollywood actress doing exactly the same thing as the expert in the previous sentence…
but for a completely different candidate….
while the chatter around me almost swallowed me up in content that I would have tuned out..but hello…a public place, right?
And I find that most days the filling up from my quiet time in God’s Word leaks out and leaves me feeling overwhelmed as the day and the clamoring of the world begin to take a toll.
So I have been putting to practice a teaching that God put in front of me through a variety of sources in a short period of time recently…
which to me means, He would like to get my attention about this…
and that is choosing a small nugget of His Word to dwell on when the rip tide sets in…
On our trip last weekend we saw at least twenty deer carcasses on the side of the road (sorry..I know….gross…it gets worse…) but the one that did me in was in the middle of the road and all that was left was the upper part of its body.
We assume a semi had taken care of the other half as evidenced by a pile of mess nearby.
With not much sleep and lots of emotions, I just couldn’t get over the shock and the sense of … that’s how I feel so often these days after a good lashing by the reality of our culture.
And then the small nugget kicked in…
the current words of truth that I have been meditating on and memorizing and ….
THIS IS THE IMPORTANT PART…
applying to life….
I found it in Psalm 77:10-15
And I said….This is my anguish.
Because the Psalmist HAD anguish.
The stuff that we are struggling with?
It’s real.
You can’t positive think it away or change your mind so you can be okay with it…no
When we have ANGUISH…we have it.
But he goes on to point out what we DO when we have it…
REMEMBER…
Remember God
Remember His works in the past
Remember ALL of His work...
So I do it.
I think about all the things He has done…in my life, in the lives of others, in creation, in history…and MEDITATE on those things…
and then
TALK about them.
Because when we are overwhelmed and paralyzed with fear…we stop talking about how great our God is…
The Psalm continues…
Your way, O God, is in the sanctuary.
Who is so great a god as our God?
You are the God who does wonders.
You have declared Your strength among the peoples
You have with Your arm REDEEMED Your people <3
So when we are feeling overwhelmed…let’s remember and then let’s talk about it to each other <3
Next week…and don’t hold me to this because you know how I am…I hope to do another small series on some Scriptures that I consider to be nuggets of gold right now.
Until then, I hope you have a blessed weekend and that you are holding fast to His Word.
He is faithful <3