June 26, 2023
A simple child’s prayer in the morning bursts forth into afternoon sunshine for big sister’s birthday party. God lovingly shoos the clouds away so that cousins laugh, hoses sprinkle, sunshine sparkles, and birthday cupcakes crumble. This is the stuff of summer. This is the stuff of carefree childhood memories.
What happens when we as adults can hardly remember those childhood days? What happens when the burdens press so heavily that we can hardly see the goodness of our God? What happens when cares ravage our minds so completely that we struggle to swing our arms in the next mindless task or we feel glued to the floor, unable to walk to the next destination?
A recent personal trial has pressed so hard upon our family that some days I struggled to do the routine tasks of a wife and mom. Finally, I reached a point where I had to determine that the issue, which was out of my hands, was no longer going to dictate my days. By the grace of God, I quietly decided that this trial was not going to ruin my life but that I needed to put one foot forward and do the next right thing that God wanted me to do.
Even in the aftermath of the trial, my heart still felt weak and saddened: saddened for those lives touched by the wrong choices of others, saddened for those listening to lies, saddened by the emotional and physical burdens placed upon my husband and me. Weariness settled and my body could not grasp at enough sleep; the wheels of my mind hardly stopped spinning in the evenings when exhaustion should have taken over.
Heart-worn, I turned to God, and God inclined unto me. God brought me to Psalm 40 and refreshed my parched, downtrodden heart. Ashamed to say that I did not run to God as quickly as needed, I am learning to run to God sooner in the midst of trouble.
I waited patiently for the LORD; and he inclined unto me, and heard my cry.
How amazing that God’s disposition toward us is one of inclination! Like a father listening intently to the warbled message of a child, God bends down to hear us.
He brought me up also out of an horrible pit, out of the miry clay, and set my feet upon a rock, and established my goings.
When I cry out to God, He lifts me out of the noisy pit and sets my feet upon a solid, stable rock.
And he hath put a new song in my mouth, even praise unto our God: many shall see it, and fear, and shall trust in the LORD.
Not only does God lift me out of the noisy pit, but He gives me a song in my heart! As I sing praise to Him, others see my testimony and wonder who this great God is!
Blessed is that man that maketh the LORD his trust, and respecteth not the proud, nor such as turn aside to lies.
I can trust God no matter what is happening to me. I can trust God to help me stand for what is right. I can trust God even when lies swirl around my family.
I do not have to fear the proud, the ones who lean on their own intellect and peer down at others in judgement. I do not have to fear those who listen to lies.
Many, O LORD my God, are thy wonderful works which thou hast done, and thy thoughts which are to us-ward: they cannot be reckoned up in order unto thee: if I would declare and speak of them, they are more than can be numbered.
God’s works are wonderful, and He has done wonderful works for me! God thinks about me, little, insignificant me! God’s thoughts towards me are so numerous that I cannot count them; they are so magnanimous that I cannot keep them in order to even begin writing them down.
What is the heart response to such an unspeakable passage?
I delight to do thy will, O my God: yea, thy law is within my heart.
Delight is the heart’s answer, an overjoyed delight in obeying God out of a heart of love for Who He is and what He has done for me. The heart delights in the great God Who alone can satisfy its deep longings. The heart thirsts to know this God and His love words to me in my innermost being, my heart.
Friend, I do not know what valleys you face today, but I know a great God Who is with all those who call out to Him. If your heart hurts, may I lovingly encourage you to grab your Bible and read this precious passage, Psalm 40, and let the Healer of your heart speak soothing salve into your soul?
-Ashley
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