There is something magical about being near majestic mountains and beautiful natural views. The first time I visited Colorado last summer I felt like I was at Disney Land. I really did not expect to be so mesmerized by the landscape! Of course after some time of not seeing those beautiful views, you forget their magic. Enter last week when I got to go back to Colorado with a group of ladies from work for a professional development opportunity. There was an electric feeling in the car when those mountains came into view and I think we all felt the child inside of us. We were laughing and smiling and just going on and on about the beauty around us. In the end I am so glad we got to do a little hiking before we left. It was so gorgeous and it inspired this blog!
The whole experience brought new reflection and meaning to Psalm 104 that I had read earlier that week. The Psalmist is saying how he desires for all that he is to praise the Lord. He describes all the wonderful things God created on this earth. He marvels at the landscapes and the cycles created by God that provides for all the needs of those living here- plants, animals, and people. He says "O Lord, what a variety of things you have made! In wisdom you have made them all." (Psalm 104:24 NLT). "May the glory of the Lord continue forever! The Lord takes pleasure in all he has made!" (104:31 NLT). I easily identified with the Psalmist while on the mountain! All the things I saw just made me feel inspired. I could not stop taking pictures of what I found interesting.
Thinking more about it now, I think that the electric/magical/childlike feeling was my spirit woman rising up within me. She was going crazy with pleasure, acknowledging the greatness of her creator. Just like the Psalmist she longs for all that she is to praise the lord. What a great experience! One interesting thing I learned about myself on this trip is that apparently I can find a song to go with just about anything. I think they joked that I was a "walking jukebox." So with that in mind I will leave you with a song..... I have a favorite line and maybe you will too!
I admit freely that I like watching those cheesy SYFY movies. The more ridiculous sounding the title, the more my interest is peeked. I read titles like Megapython vs. Gatoroid thinking "What in the world?" and I have to watch at least five minutes. Of course within that five minutes I get hooked and well.... five minutes turns into two hours. A few weeks ago I watched one that brought on a nightmare. I woke up scared and could not go back to sleep. Visions of these crazy, tribal, vicious, doglike tree men flashed every time I closed my eyes. Now when I have a nightmare, singing songs in my head helps me fall back asleep. The only song that came to me on this night was Amy Grant's Thy Word. Now I have not heard that song in AGES but I could remember EVERY word. I really held onto the line "nothing will I fear, as long as you are here" and in no time I was back asleep nightmare free.
Flash forward to this week's daily bible reading and I find myself reading Psalm 119. It is a Hebrew acrostic poem that is 176 verses long. I don't think I have ever read one of those verses let alone all 176 until this week and I was really liking the subject. It seemed focused on the joy and benefits of studying God's word and law. The verses echoed my own desire of knowing God deeper through the reading of the Bible. Then, I had to smile even more because, tucked away in this Psalm at verse 105 is the reference for my nightmare fighting Amy Grant song "Your word is a lamp to guide my feed and a light for my path." Suddenly the verse was not just an isolated, stand alone verse from my childhood that supported the indoctrinated practice of Sunday school scripture memorization. In context, I found that it was a verse woven into a tapestry of so many other beautiful verses expressing to God how much the writer loved God and his word. How important the word was to him/her, how the word brought delight and joy, how the word reminded the writer of God's comfort and unfailing love and his faithfulness. YES, YES, YES (I wanted to shout).... because I realized that after establishing a short daily bible reading time for the last six months that is just the way I feel about God and his word. I did not think I would ever feel that way about reading the Bible. Bible reading always seemed so hard and took too long. I am so glad my heart is changing in this area. No wonder Amy Grant sang a song about that verse!
When I sat down to read my bible today I really needed to hear encouragement from God. This summer is turning out to be a little overwhelming for me. I feel like I am trying to juggle much with very little. Every week presents something new to mourn, pray about, worry about, or try to plan for. The needs are more than what I seem to be able to provide for. I feel like I am about to squeeze the life out of my life trying to control it all by myself. I wanted a scripture to just jump off the page and let me know everything was going to be alright. So I read and well.... I have to say nothing jumped. Nothing relieved the heaviness in my heart. I closed my bible and still had all the same worry and fret as before. In fact, now I had added a little insecurity to worry because after today's reading of Proverbs 31:10-31 I had to be honest, I have some real work ahead of me to be that "virtuous woman". So I sat with my coffee and my burdens. I sat with my numerous thoughts and my many plans. I sat with my tears and my worries. As I sat at my kitchen table, I began to hear the songs from my radio station playing in the background. Songs of hope, songs about bringing your burdens to the Lord, songs about submitting to his will, songs that told of his unfailing love and his desire to lift my burdens from me. Suddenly words of faith, love, and inspiration were jumping all around me. I was overcome with the fact that God didn't send me just one song to listen to and lift my heart. He sent me song after song until I received the message, quit trying to squeeze and control my life, and instead surrendered and gave all of it to him. The moment was tender, sweet, and so very, very real. I did hear from God today, it just did not come in the form I expected. I heard that I can choose to hold onto all of my worry or I can chose to tell God about it. When I choose to hold onto my worry and my need to control, nothing changes immediately and I continue to feel hopeless and heavy hearted. When I tell God about my worries, nothing about my circumstance changes immediately but, my heart does. I let go of trying to control every little moment and I feel hope. I feel rest. My heart returns to feeling light. Instead of being consumed by all the negative things, I begin to focus on the very real and prosperous blessings God has given me. I begin to worship him for his goodness and provision. I feel loved because he saw my sadness today and made time for me. Time to tell me that he truly is my "refuge and strength, always ready to help in times of trouble."(Psalm 46:1 NLT)
