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Friday... It can be so hard to understand...


Friday... In this day that we are living in it is so very hard for us to understand what is happening around us, isn't it? 

Asaph, the writer of Psalm 73 was also having trouble understanding something that was happening around him. He said in verses 11-14 (MSG), "What's going on here? Is God out to lunch? Nobody's tending the store. The wicked get by with everything; they have it made, piling up the riches. I've been stupid to play by the rules; what has it gotten me? A long run of bad luck that's what-a slap in the face every time I walk out the door." And sounds like us too many times doesn't it? Just be honest, maybe that is what you are saying on Facebook today, if not at least you're thinking it.

The NLT says verse 13 and 14 this way, "Did I keep my heart pure for nothing? Did I keep myself innocent for no reason? I get nothing but trouble all day long; every morning brings me pain." Is that what you are thinking this morning?

He then says in verses 15 and 16 (MSG), "If I had given in and talked like this, I would have betrayed your dear children. Still when I tried to figure it out, all I got was a splitting headache... until..."

The NLT in verse 16, says, "So I tried to understand why the wicked prosper. But what a difficult task it is!" And that is so true when we come at it on our own.  

Verse 17 is the key and this is what caught my attention as I was reading this Psalm this morning. It says, "Then I went into your sanctuary, O God." The MESSAGE says, "all I got was a splitting headache..until I entered the sanctuary of God." Until I changed my focus from all that is around me, all the injustices, all the life isn't fair talk, all the self-pity, all the why?, why?, why's?, all the junk that we are letting into our minds and hearts.

Verse 17-20, "Until I entered the sanctuary of God. Then I saw the whole picture: The slippery road you've put them on, with a fatal crash in a ditch of delusions. In the blink of an eye, disaster! A blind curve in the dark, and-nightmare! We wake up and rub our eyes...Nothing. There's nothing to them. And there never was."

He then says in verse 26 (NLT), "My health may fail, and my spirit may grow weak, but God remains the strength of my heart; he is mine forever." And verse 28, "But as for me, how good it is to be near God! I have made the Sovereign Lord my shelter, and I will tell everyone about the wonderful things you do."

Make sure you spend time each day in the sanctuary of God's Word and God's presence. If you do it will enhance your understanding, and give you strength and be your shelter. "Then I went into you sanctuary, O God, and finally I understood..." Yes, yes! #todaysbeginning

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