"I keep my eyes always on the LORD. With him at my right hand, I will not be shaken."
Psalm 16:8
Hunched over in emotional agony, her little body was shaking from the waterfall of tears that she couldn't seem to stop. Much different than her usual enthusiastic demeanor, she was overcome with emotion and couldn't pull herself together.
At the tender age of three, I could see her fragile little heart and I understood. I understood because I too have wrestled with that same spiral of emotions many times. She wanted something so badly but wasn't allowed to have it and it crushed her. It wasn't so much hearing no that left a mark on her as it was the emotion that followed the no...
Disappointment.
Longing for something that isn't ours provides an easy opportunity for the enemy to convince us to nurse bitterness and turn from God. We often translate God's "no" or "not right now", as rejection. I imagine you don't have to think very long to recall a time that you felt God was punishing you or withholding from you, I know I don't. Just last week I reached out to a dear friend and asked for her prayer as I vulnerably admitted that I didn't understand why God was allowing certain things in my life when I believe Him for so much more. It's just our nature. This side of heaven we will always long for something. The Bible is filled with examples of people that wanted something that wasn't there's for the taking. Sometimes they took it themselves and it turned out horribly wrong (ex. David and Bathsheba).
We will face disappointment. We will long for more than we have and pine for that which is not ours. Even the most devout, Spirit-filled saints that I know wrestle with the laying down of their own wants. So what do we do when we are in the midst of that? How do we not pull away from our great savior who is the only one who can comfort us?
We lock eyes with Him. Psalm 16:8 has become a life line for me. It says, "I keep my eyes always on the LORD. With him at my right hand, I will not be shaken." David wrote this in the midst of being pursued by men who wanted to kill him. We too can take hold of this way of faith-living to lock eyes with the only one who will ever love us unconditionally. The only one who knows our deepest needs and promises to meet every single one.
We remember that this world is passing away. It is but a vapor (James 4:14). When we remember that we were made for more than this temporary life, we can refocus our hearts on that which is eternal.
We recite God's promises - His goodness, His faithfulness, His Holiness. When we focus on who God is, it gives us the perspective we need to remember that He has not overlooked our fragile hearts and emotions but on the contrary, He tenderly cares for His sheep and all their needs.
We remember that what we think we need is often not what we really need. We will never grasp the fullness of God's holy sovereignty but we can know without a doubt that His ways and His thoughts are Higher than ours. He is trustworthy.
We worship Him. Choosing to worship God despite our own feelings will always align our hearts with His. It never ceases to amaze me the power of worship.
Amidst her throbbing heart and streams of tears, my little girl taught me an important lesson. Despite feeling that I was the one inflicting her pain, she leaned into me. Not just a little bit. She grabbed for me and fell into my embrace as if her life depended on being skin-close to me. She could have pulled back and rejected me out of anger but instead she knew I was her greatest source of (earthly) comfort and she chose to cling to that.
In that tender moment I sensed God speaking to my soul, "Sweet daughter, if you only knew how much I love you. Lean into me. I will hold you. I will care for your tender hurt and disappointment. I am enough for you."
Dear friends, tonight please know He is enough for you.
I've witnessed a beautiful gift that we receive when we lean in to God - we become so tuned to the sound of His voice and His heartbeat, that we can no longer be suffocated by the sound of our own wrestling. He is soothing. He is comfort. He is peace.
Longing for something that isn't ours provides an easy opportunity for the enemy to convince us to nurse bitterness and turn from God. We often translate God's "no" or "not right now", as rejection. I imagine you don't have to think very long to recall a time that you felt God was punishing you or withholding from you, I know I don't. Just last week I reached out to a dear friend and asked for her prayer as I vulnerably admitted that I didn't understand why God was allowing certain things in my life when I believe Him for so much more. It's just our nature. This side of heaven we will always long for something. The Bible is filled with examples of people that wanted something that wasn't there's for the taking. Sometimes they took it themselves and it turned out horribly wrong (ex. David and Bathsheba).
We will face disappointment. We will long for more than we have and pine for that which is not ours. Even the most devout, Spirit-filled saints that I know wrestle with the laying down of their own wants. So what do we do when we are in the midst of that? How do we not pull away from our great savior who is the only one who can comfort us?
We lock eyes with Him. Psalm 16:8 has become a life line for me. It says, "I keep my eyes always on the LORD. With him at my right hand, I will not be shaken." David wrote this in the midst of being pursued by men who wanted to kill him. We too can take hold of this way of faith-living to lock eyes with the only one who will ever love us unconditionally. The only one who knows our deepest needs and promises to meet every single one.
We remember that this world is passing away. It is but a vapor (James 4:14). When we remember that we were made for more than this temporary life, we can refocus our hearts on that which is eternal.
We recite God's promises - His goodness, His faithfulness, His Holiness. When we focus on who God is, it gives us the perspective we need to remember that He has not overlooked our fragile hearts and emotions but on the contrary, He tenderly cares for His sheep and all their needs.
We remember that what we think we need is often not what we really need. We will never grasp the fullness of God's holy sovereignty but we can know without a doubt that His ways and His thoughts are Higher than ours. He is trustworthy.
We worship Him. Choosing to worship God despite our own feelings will always align our hearts with His. It never ceases to amaze me the power of worship.
Amidst her throbbing heart and streams of tears, my little girl taught me an important lesson. Despite feeling that I was the one inflicting her pain, she leaned into me. Not just a little bit. She grabbed for me and fell into my embrace as if her life depended on being skin-close to me. She could have pulled back and rejected me out of anger but instead she knew I was her greatest source of (earthly) comfort and she chose to cling to that.
In that tender moment I sensed God speaking to my soul, "Sweet daughter, if you only knew how much I love you. Lean into me. I will hold you. I will care for your tender hurt and disappointment. I am enough for you."
Dear friends, tonight please know He is enough for you.
I've witnessed a beautiful gift that we receive when we lean in to God - we become so tuned to the sound of His voice and His heartbeat, that we can no longer be suffocated by the sound of our own wrestling. He is soothing. He is comfort. He is peace.
