Pageviews past week

Saturday, August 10, 2013

Hit Me Upside the Head with a 2x4

Psalm 111
 
 
As I look back on my life of 63 years, it seems like God has always been at work. The only problem is that it sometimes required Him to hit me upside my head with a 2x4 before I actually caught on.

If only He had done something like parting the Red Sea, or providing manna from heaven or spoke to me in an audible voice, then it wouldn’t have taken a 2x4 to get my attention. Think of all the time I could have saved and all the good things I could have accomplished for God… if only.

This Psalm is about praising the Lord for His works. Verse 7 states:
"The works of His hands are faithful and just;
all His precepts are trustworthy."

The Bible is a book about the faithfulness of God and his promises. He promises to always be with us, to love us unconditionally and to forgive us for our sins if we turn from them. Each one of us is writing our own chapter of God’s story of redemption. Of how He has worked in our lives and used us in the lives of others. And sometimes it takes a 2x4.

Take a few minutes to quietly consider how God has worked in your life. Write it down on a legal pad if you’re old school or key it into your smart phone if you’re technologically savvy. How has God worked in your life? Who did He bring into your life that changed the direction of it? How has He used you to be His hands and feet in the lives of others?

For me, God has worked in my life through a small plastic box of gemstones, a friend who made up a baseball game with dice, my high school girlfriend who unceremoniously dumped me, a fellow geology student during summer school, reading some books on urban youth ministry, and so on. No burning bushes, no pillar of fire, no water into wine – just God at work through everyday ordinary stuff.

After you’ve made your list, then "Praise the Lord". The Message says it like this:
"Hallelujah!
I give thanks to God with everything I’ve got…
God’s works are so great, worth a lifetime of study…
His miracles are His memorial -
This God of grace, this God of love."

No comments: