Loving God, may the needs and opportunities of this dear reader be cause for praise in the heavenly realms; in Christ Jesus I pray, amen.
Here is our text for today from Psalm 40: 1 I waited and waited and waited for God. At last he looked; finally he listened. 2 He lifted me out of the ditch, pulled me from deep mud. He stood me up on a solid rock to make sure I wouldn't slip. 3 He taught me how to sing the latest God-song, a praise-song to our God. More and more people are seeing this: they enter the mystery, abandoning themselves to God. 4 Blessed are you who give yourselves over to God, turn your backs on the world's "sure thing," ignore what the world worships; 5 The world's a huge stockpile of God-wonders and God-thoughts. Nothing and no one comes close to you! I start talking about you, telling what I know, and quickly run out of words. Neither numbers nor words account for you. 6 Doing something for you, bringing something to you - that's not what you're after. Being religious, acting pious - that's not what you're asking for. You've opened my ears so I can listen. 7 So I answered, "I'm coming. I read in your letter what you wrote about me, 8 And I'm coming to the party you're throwing for me." That's when God's Word entered my life, became part of my very being. 9 I've preached you to the whole congregation, I've kept back nothing, God - you know that. 10 I didn't keep the news of your ways a secret, didn't keep it to myself. I told it all, how dependable you are, how thorough. I didn't hold back pieces of love and truth For myself alone. I told it all, let the congregation know the whole story. 11 Now God, don't hold out on me, don't hold back your passion. Your love and truth are all that keeps me together. (The Message Version of The Bible)
From "here to there" is sometimes a long distance. Sometimes it is a lifelong distance. Yet, sometimes it's exactly where we need to go. And always, it is a matter of life and death. Such was the feeling the Psalmist had as he faced difficulties in his life, not unlike us and those times when it seems everything piles up against us or on us. And, being the believers we need to be, we pray. And we pray and we pray and we pray. And sometimes it seems exactly like it says in verse one, we wait and wait and wait on God. Sometimes it isn't that long a wait but it sure seems like it! And where we want to be is "there" not "here" (or so we sometimes think), and if "there" is away from the "ditch" in our life and the "deep mud" in our life, then surely we pray, "Lord, take me out of here and lead me to where You would have me be." The "there" according to this version of the Bible is that place where we can enter the "mystery" of God with complete abandonment to self; that is to say, that place where we feel God's love but can't quite understand or explain why God loves us. And we seek to do the things we would not normally do, things the world does not expect from those that want "to get ahead" or be "successful." We can, and will find the "God-wonders" and "God-thoughts" for our lives.
That is, if you want to get "there from here."
PRAYER: Lord, I do want to be where You are. I want to abandon myself completely in You. Let me seek to know more about You and see the God-wonders and have the God-thoughts that will richly and eternally bless my life. I'm tired of finding myself in the ditches and deep mud of this life and desire to be in Your presence. May it be so right now and always. I ask this in Christ Jesus' precious and powerful name, amen.
Have a great and blessed day in the Lord!
Eradio Valverde
