A Good Reminder for the New Year
The snow has been coming down! I am thankful that I did get out to my appointment at the fitness center with my trainer. It was interesting that my legs felt weaker than the last time I worked out. But overall it is good to see the strength coming gradually as I push forward in my recovery.
BIBLE VERSE FOR TODAY… “The Lord is a refuge for the oppressed, a place of safety in times of trouble. Those who know you, Lord, will trust you; you do not abandon anyone who comes to you.” Psalm 9:9,10
As we anticipate the New Year and look forward to good days ahead, days of blessing, it is only realistic to know that challenges will be faced. As we pursue our dreams there may be some dream “dashers” that will come our way. There will be adjustments that need to be made, obstacles and difficulties will come. Some one once said, “you are either in a trail, coming out of a trial or getting ready for a trial.” That sounds like an “Eeyore” (the sad sack donkey from Winne the Pooh) sort of perspective, but it may contain more reality than just negativity.
However, it doesn’t mean we need to have a negative view of life. Just as a football team prepares itself for the competition of the other team, we need to build up our confidence to face what may come to us on the road of life.
That confidence comes from knowing the Lord and trusting in Him. In our verses above the Psalmist puts these two concepts together. To know the Lord is to trust the Lord. And it is difficult to trust in the Lord if you don’t have confidence in your relationship with him. A friend of mine commented to me recently about some older people of strong faith. He said, “they talked with God like they were on a first name basis!”
So what do we need to remember? Simply that the Lord is a place of refuge and safety. In David’s day safety and refuge were symbolized by the size and strength of the walls around a city. Inside the walls was safety where you could live with confidence even if there were dangers around. That is what the Lord is for us.
Our confidence in life comes from knowing that the Lord does not “abandon anyone” who comes to Him. People will often express feelings of being “God forsaken” but those are just human emotions or spiritual attacks that are designed to hold us back and keep us from pressing forward in life. That is why we live according to what the Bible says and not by our feelings. One of the best ways to address our feelings is to confidently declare the truth of God’s Word. “Lord I am feeling alone and forgotten, but you do not abandon anyone who comes to you; and your Word says you are with me always. So I open my life to your presence and submit my feelings to the truth of your Word.”
The early days of the season for any sports team is a return to the fundamentals that will make them victorious when the real competition begins. In these early days of a new year, what are some of the fundamentals about your faith that you need to be reminded of? A good place to begin is “The Lord is a refuge for the oppressed, a place of safety in times of trouble. Those who know you, Lord, will trust you; you do not abandon anyone who comes to you.”