But God...
You may laugh at this, but my first thought when asked about favorite Bible verses was recalling all the ones I learned while watching Veggietales DVDs with my kids. Those times when I cared for my littles and worked outside the home felt like really dry seasons for me at times. I can't believe I didn't see it until now, but I am so glad I remembered. Our Dad is so good like that. He was teaching me, quenching my thirst, right along with teaching my little ones. What?!?! I almost missed it. Look, all I am saying is watch the episode titled "A Snoodle's Tale." I still sob.
God used those moments when my mind said "I just can't", to reach in and hold my heart. As I share that with you, I think it's important to jog your memory because you have moments like that to remember. Take time to reflect on God's faithfulness because the hard things will always be easier to see and recall. Speaking truth to myself, the truth of God's word throughout my day, has become something I just very well cannot live without; like air or water.
By now another question has also been asked of most of us: "How are you doing in all this?" I have learned I can handle a lot--until I can't. It has been easier to find myself depleted of energy, lacking passion, creativity, and questioning everything. My mind and body have become like the sun-scorched place we live in! We've all seen a tumbleweed blowing across the desert floor, right? I don't want to get hit by a passing tumbleweed but I also don't want to be the tumbleweed! I know I will always face obstacles but I don't want to also be the obstacle.
In this season, the verse I keep close to my heart is Psalm 1:2-3:
Friends, this is a promise. You can put all of the ugly, hard things in front of those statements and then look at what both of those verses begin with; but. But God changes the narrative. All the time. He does not change. He is the same yesterday, today and tomorrow. For every moment that is fleeting, his Spirit is active in us and his word is living for us. Open it up. Remember what He did, remember what He will do, and rest in knowing that when the heat comes, when the water runs dry, when there is no good thing to be seen, we can still root ourselves deeply in his unfailing love. His word doesn't say if those things come because they will; they are. His word says be planted by the living water.
There is no other that will satisfy us. Sometimes that is going to come easy and sometimes we'll have to fight for it. There are days that I can sit for an hour and soak up a Bible study. There are also days when I am, literally, looking at a sticky note on the mirror and saying the verse I've written on it out loud because the things going on around me are trying to steal my joy. I have hope for you and for me. Hold on and remember. The fruit part?--it comes. It comes in its time. It is never sweeter or more beautiful and more abundant than when it has had to stretch out its roots and hold onto the Giver, Redeemer, Savior of it all. It reaches out far and wide and overflows. We just cannot comprehend but He promises He will do it. Amen.
God used those moments when my mind said "I just can't", to reach in and hold my heart. As I share that with you, I think it's important to jog your memory because you have moments like that to remember. Take time to reflect on God's faithfulness because the hard things will always be easier to see and recall. Speaking truth to myself, the truth of God's word throughout my day, has become something I just very well cannot live without; like air or water.
By now another question has also been asked of most of us: "How are you doing in all this?" I have learned I can handle a lot--until I can't. It has been easier to find myself depleted of energy, lacking passion, creativity, and questioning everything. My mind and body have become like the sun-scorched place we live in! We've all seen a tumbleweed blowing across the desert floor, right? I don't want to get hit by a passing tumbleweed but I also don't want to be the tumbleweed! I know I will always face obstacles but I don't want to also be the obstacle.
In this season, the verse I keep close to my heart is Psalm 1:2-3:
"but whose delight is in the law of the Lord, and meditates on his law day and night. That person is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither--whatever they do prospers."
Jeremiah 17: 7-8 confirms this profound truth and was also written amidst some pretty dark scenarios: "But blessed is the one who trusts in the Lord, whose confidence is in Him. They will be like a tree planted by the water that sends out its roots by the stream. It does not fear when the heat comes; it's leaves are always green. It has no worries in a year of drought, and never fails to bear fruit."
Friends, this is a promise. You can put all of the ugly, hard things in front of those statements and then look at what both of those verses begin with; but. But God changes the narrative. All the time. He does not change. He is the same yesterday, today and tomorrow. For every moment that is fleeting, his Spirit is active in us and his word is living for us. Open it up. Remember what He did, remember what He will do, and rest in knowing that when the heat comes, when the water runs dry, when there is no good thing to be seen, we can still root ourselves deeply in his unfailing love. His word doesn't say if those things come because they will; they are. His word says be planted by the living water.
There is no other that will satisfy us. Sometimes that is going to come easy and sometimes we'll have to fight for it. There are days that I can sit for an hour and soak up a Bible study. There are also days when I am, literally, looking at a sticky note on the mirror and saying the verse I've written on it out loud because the things going on around me are trying to steal my joy. I have hope for you and for me. Hold on and remember. The fruit part?--it comes. It comes in its time. It is never sweeter or more beautiful and more abundant than when it has had to stretch out its roots and hold onto the Giver, Redeemer, Savior of it all. It reaches out far and wide and overflows. We just cannot comprehend but He promises He will do it. Amen.
Posted in Finding
Tagged with planted by water, streams of water, psalms, Jeremiah, god, faithfulness, promise of God, unfailing love, But God, Bible
Tagged with planted by water, streams of water, psalms, Jeremiah, god, faithfulness, promise of God, unfailing love, But God, Bible
1 Comment
Hi Elena, thanks for sharing these verses. This season has been challenging as my family and I adapt to online school, are in the middle of house renovations and coping with Covid. The house was under construction as the workers replace the carpet with tile. Now that is done we are painting some rooms in the house ourselves. This has been tiring as the first renovation took a month and we are in the midths of painting. Because of Covid Is an everyday thing that now the kids are home and that brings it's own challenges. I remind our kids in particular our older son that we are a team and we depend on him to do his part, going to school online, doing his shores around the house or as he goes out with his friends to take precautions. Many times I feel like I am spreading thin, I try to stop when I get frustrated. I redirect my attention to breathing deeply and say a prayer before opening His word. Is there where I find his peace and find my calm in the middle of it all. His word is my refuge, is where I reflect about his presence in the every day. That his with me every step of the way and to rejoyce for his faithfulness and his love and grace for us.