Bite-Sized Psalms

     Perhaps you've heard it said: "Time is money."


     As a college student, time is sleep. Time is socialization. Time is work. But most prominently...time is in short supply.


     Messages about the importance of time management are plenty, but even though the importance of devotional time and social time and school/family balance are emphasized, no one seems to be able to answer the question: how? How in the world do we do it all? Sometimes there are simply not enough hours in the day. And so students end up cutting corners somewhere. Homework gets dropped, friends get blocked, or sleep takes the hit. However, I find that in my own life, that sweet time lingering in the Lord's presence is often what slips away to allow room for papers and parties.

     Trying to manage too much usually results in not doing any of it well. This brings with it frustration and guilt and that terrible struggle of always trying to do everything and yet never doing enough.

     Guilt has NO place in our relationship with the Lord. Failure to reach the expectations and goals we have set for ourselves  is something that will happen repeatedly throughout our lives. Do you know why? Because we're NOT God. God is God. And He is good and gracious enough to make up for our shortcomings and bridge the gap between sin and holiness. We are flawed and not expected to always succeed - we are just expected to cultivate a heart that is eager to obey and please the Lord.

    The greatest danger is when this heavy feeling of guilt over struggling and failing to set aside time for the Lord keeps us on the path we are already on instead of driving us back to the Word. This is when it is important to realize - it's not always about the hours we have to give. It is the intent with which we pledge ourselves and our time to the Lord.

     My parents had a pastor who poured wisdom into their lives, and they continue to spread his wisdom to me and sister today. His legacy lives on through his stories. He shared with my parents how he struggled as young working man with a family trying to make time for the Lord, but only managing a few minutes every morning to spend in focused devotion time. He was apologizing to the Lord, exhausted at the fact that his best didn't seem like enough, when he felt that the Lord spoke to him and said, "what do you think the short Psalms are for?"

     Whether you have several hours to spend feasting at the table or only 10 minutes for a bite-sized Psalm, don't let guilt over not doing enough keep you from tasting and seeing that the Lord is good. He is an understanding and graceful God, and I think that he is patient with us as we struggle to balance our lives. As we are faithful to what He asks us to do, He will multiply our time and be faithful to us in return.

     Read your Bible, snack on a Psalm; even if it's in the 5 minutes between breakfast and rushing out the door. Continuously making time with the Lord a priority creates a pattern that allows Him to come into various areas of your life throughout your day. He is gracious, and when we give Him all we have to give His grace is faithful to bridge the gap.

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if you're looking for a short, bite-sized devotional to munch on each day, i recommend My Utmost for His Highest by Oswald Chambers or Jesus Calling by Beth Moore. each contains a small, daily devotional that can get your mind and eyes focused for the rest of the day, and i have encountered some pretty profound truths in the short paragraphs.

   
 

It Is Well

 

  "It is well".

     The true meaning of these words must almost be experienced rather than understood...but there are few things that "it is well" does not mean.

     It is well doesn't mean everything in life is alright. It doesn't even mean that everything will be 'ok' someday. It is well doesn't speak of the absence of pain or promise that our circumstances will resolve themselves in a way that pleases us.

     Saying "it is well" is a choice. Choosing to live in those words means choosing to proclaim that light will win even when darkness seems to be prevailing.

     When Horatio Spafford penned the famous hymn It is Well with My Soul, the situations in his life were far from what any earthly mind would consider 'well'. He wrote the hymn while on a ship heading to England to meet his wife...the only survivor of a shipwreck that took the lives of his four daughters. It was with this unspeakable grief covering him that he wrote the words "When peace like a river attendeth my way//when sorrows like sea billows roll//whatever the cost, thou has taught me to say//it is well with my soul."

     This response is not a human response. Only divine intervention can break through the chains of extreme grief enough to bring the supernatural peace that Spafford was experiencing.

    Praising God when our emotions and situations don't line up with our expectations of His goodness is difficult to do; however, it is these times that are the true tests of faith. When believing doesn't come easy, we must choose to believe. It is during these times that we must hold intentionally to the truth of God's goodness.

     God's goodness is not dependent on our circumstances. God's goodness is not dependent on our emotions. When peace like a river flows through our lives, God is good, and when sorrow threatens to drown us in darkness, God is still good.

     When life is falling apart around us, we have two options. We can sink with the ship and drown in the denial, despair, depression, and anger that our circumstances bring with them. Or we can cling to the Lord as the sea billows swell around us and allow Him to lift us from the waves.

     Grief is real, and it's important to acknowledge and deal with those feelings (read The Mud of Grief). But proclaiming in our hearts and soul that "it is well" acknowledges a goodness and a power greater than ourselves. No matter what our earthly circumstances, the Lord is still good and He still loves and His will be accomplished. He is good. It is well.

     Amen.

This Chapter

                         dramatic looking-out-into distance photo from back when I was warm


     2016 gets a bad rap. Between the election and Carrie Fisher the world seems about ready to give up; and really, can you blame them?

    The thing is, 2016 wasn't great for me either. In fact, it was probably one of the hardest years of my life. But it wasn't all bad. After all, it drove me back to my journal, which has resulted in the poems and devos and snippets that I'm posting on the blog. Truth is, the Lord used 2016. Which doesn't mean I don't hope 2017 will be better.

     I have high hopes for 2017. Expectations, even. Things are going to be better. Even if they aren't, I'll be ok...but gosh, I think we could all use a break, don't you? I'm doing my part by applying the lessons I've learned through 2016. Honestly, I can tell my confidence is down a little. I'm treading carefully and evaluating even small decisions in detail. But it's what I need to do until I get back on my feet.

     Here is the one thing that I am SURE will make a difference; I am going into 2017 all prayed up. My heart is for the Lord's will to be done and His will to be accomplished and for Him to lead me in assisting that mission. I so desperately want to be the woman I have been called to be, but the truth is, I don't really know how to do it on my own. I think I know that path...but I've been wrong before and will continue to be wrong until my eyes are refocused.

     So this year I make a pledge. I make a pledge to stay focused, with my eyes firmly on the Lord. I make a pledge to live out what He is teaching me. And I walk into 2017 with an open heart, ready to learn and grow. I rebuke the fear that drives me to take things into my own hands instead of leaving them where they belong; in the hands of the Father.

     I wish you a blessed 2017, and it would be my joy to walk through it with you. Lets come together with one mission, and I believe the Lord will do amazing things.

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     As I continue to seek the Lord and His wisdom, I will be following along with Love God Greatly's Bible study for the next 6 weeks titled "Walking in Wisdom", and I encourage you to join me! Check out their website to get started. I'll be sharing my thoughts on the blog periodically, so get ready to a healthy dose of some Proverbs wisdom!