“Whom have I in heaven but You? And besides You, I desire nothing on earth. My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.” Psalm 73:25-26 NASB
What a comfort to know that the Word of God is always true, right, and good! It never changes and neither does He.
I, on the other hand, often blow around like last summer’s leaves in a March wind. Frustration, discouragement, boredom, stress, pain (emotional and physical), confusion, conflicts, and more can turn me into a swirling mess of doubt and despair. If I was the psalmist writing those words in my present condition, they would read more like this, “Who, in all of heaven and earth, has got my back? I have no one to depend on. I have no passion and no desire for anything anymore. My body and my brain have failed…miserably. And God has turned a deaf ear to my cries for help. I have no hope and no future.” (I know, tune up the violin and rosin up the bow.)
But, before long, I read the passage a second time, and I hear what the psalmist is really saying. He declares his absolute dependence on a thoroughly reliable God. And I realize that I have, once again, allowed my anxious thoughts to control me. I repent. The Father whispers forgiveness, peace, and hope to my newly washed heart.
Then, as I read those verses a third time, I do so with growing confidence and a declaration of joy. God is my defender, my one desire, my strength, and my eternal home!
Every time I read the Word of God, it expresses my heart and it speaks to my heart. It’s like breathing out my questions and breathing in God’s answers.
~ Peggy Lundy, writer
~ Danyelle Yoder, painter of Renewed Focus, https://www.danyelleyoder.com/
Unpacking the Bible
I recently commissioned a piece of artwork, and the file was too big to transmit normally, so I had to download a compressed version. This smaller file was essentially a set of instructions which my computer followed to recreate the file in its entirety. Using this...
