Wednesday, November 05, 2008
21:37 PST
Psalm 103 rocked my world this morning. I want to share with you all the first few verses, but the whole thing really is awesome.
Praise the Lord, O my soul,
all my inmost being, praise his holy name,
Praise the Lord, O my soul,
and forget not all his benefits—
who forgives all your sins
and heals all your diseases,
who redeems your life from the pit
and crowns you with love and compassion,
who satisfies your desires with good things
so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.
Oooooooh psalm of David. I love the way David lists all these “benefits” of God. It’s funny because when you think about it, they really are all benefits for us—benefits we definitely do not deserve!
As I’ve been reading through 1Samuel, I’m consistently interested in the fact that David has found favor in God’s eyes. In fact, all over the Old Testament, there are people spoken of who prosper because they have found favor in God’s eyes. They seek his face, they obey him, and very often, they do extraordinary things (because God enables them, of course).
As I move through my days, I wonder what the daily life of great men like David or Joseph looked like. Did it look anything like mine looks now? I wonder what Ruth was like and how she came to love her mother-in-law so deeply. Do any of my relationships resemble the faithfulness and commitment Ruth felt? Big things come up in their lives and they have to seek God, but what did a normal day look like for them? What was in their hearts that was so pleasing to God?
All over the Bible, and here in Psalm 103, it says that God loves those who fear him. For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his love for those who fear him. Ps 103:11 This is not a new concept, and I know that in reading Psalm 103 this morning, it was not the first time this idea was brought up.
Sometimes, I fear, the Bible seems very vague to me. Fear God. Love God. Obey God. Those are all very cut and dry, very clear directions. The grey area enters in when we actually try to live those directions out. What does it look like to fear God? What does it look like to live a life that shows that you love God? What does it look like to obey God?
I find comfort in the fact that He will make my paths straight and reveal to me what He wants from me as He sees fit. I also find comfort in the fact that my path will not be identical to anyone else’s, so I can’t sit here and compare my self to everyone else constantly. It is about God and me, and following Him.
I want to live a life that shows that I love God. I want to love God. I want to be the aroma of Christ.
I think the first steps lie in knowing who God is, and that’s exactly what these first verses of Psalm 103 tell us. God is a God who loves us enough to redeem us from the pit. God satisfies our desires with GOOD THINGS. Knowing those things, knowing him, and relying on His promises, I think are the first steps toward living a life that glorifies him.
Sunday—November 2, 2008
10:02 PST
So we’re back at the SP (Segundo Piso), and we are waiting on TelNor to come and give us our phone line we paid for so we can get internet access. Casey and I are finding, however, that lack of internet boosts our productivity. I’m sure most college students find this to be ridiculously true because while internet access is a must for research and communication in our techie age, it is also a HUGE source of distraction and facilitator of procrastination, especially when there are things to be done!
Being back at the SP means that Rick and Tammie are back! Yay! We have been anticipating their arrival for quite some time now! We love what we are doing, but we are eager to get to work with them and be more involved in ministries. They came home on Friday, and they reminded me of my family. They came in like a whirlwind. They unloaded two very full, very large cars while the kids excitedly took in the familiar surroundings of their home.
I hadn’t realized how quiet our lives had been up until this point. With just Casey and me living in the house, it was a very tranquil existence. Not to say that we were necessarily extremely quiet—you all know that is practically impossible for me. But in comparison to the action that takes place in the house when the Romanos are there, it was a chill life. Kids take life up to a whole different level. I appreciate the vivacity and excitement the Romanos bring. I appreciate the familiarity of their ridiculously crazy existence (meaning the running all over the place, siblings bickering on occasion, and a dull roar always emitting from them as a unit). It feels normal. It feels nice. It feels like a family. Sometimes it brings pangs of longing for my own ridiculously crazy existence with my own family, but knowing that I can get a piece of that here, makes me excited.
Casey and I were discussing a few weeks ago how we really don’t know the Romanos. Yet, we missed them. It is a funny kinship we feel with them already, and still anticipation to build strong relationships with them, just like we’ve built with the Mexican church here. They are such an awesome couple, with such fire, passion, and drive to serve God here. The amount we can learn just by working alongside them is staggering. And even more exciting is the fact that they told us that they are the kind of people who like training and mentoring people in ministry—that’s the kind of heart they have. It just makes me want to know them better.
I would ask that you pray that we have time to do all this. We are realizing how incredibly difficult it is to minister well to six churches and how stretched Rick and Tammie must be. There are so many needs, there is so much going on, and Rick and Tammie are still pushing forward, serving God, and making the ministry stronger and stronger with God’s help.
Fasten your seatbelts everyone… life is about to pick up drastically in pace.
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