Skip to main content

Saturday... Do you ever have those times when you can't sleep?


Saturday... Do you ever have those times when you just can't sleep? Something wakes you up and then all those thoughts, all those discouraging thoughts take over and you just can't get back to sleep? 

The writer of Psalm 77:4 (NLT) says, "You don't let me sleep. I am too distressed even to pray!" I'm sure you have felt that way, haven't you? 

He goes on, verses 5-10, "I think of the good old days, long since ended. when my nights were filled with joyful songs. I search my soul and ponder the difference now. Has the Lord rejected me forever? Will he never be kind to me? Is his unfailing love gone forever? Have his promises permanently failed? Has God forgotten to be gracious? Has he slammed the door on his compassion. And I said, 'This is my fate; the Most High has turned his hand against me'" Have you ever said that? Have you ever felt that? Now that is not going to lift our spirits. That is only going to take us deeper into our despair. But God understands us and He loves us. And He gives us the Psalms right in the middle of the Bible to show He understands. But He also shows us that we are not to stay there.

I have had in my background those times when I stayed there. Those were dark days. And when I start to dwell too long on those thoughts I stop and I say I can't go there, I won't go there. I have learned from experience that that isn't a great place to go. And spending time in the Psalms was what started me on the path of turning those times around.

Look at verses 11 & 12. See how he turns these times of despair around. He says, "But then" I love that. "But then I recall all you have done, O Lord; I remember your wonderful deeds of long ago. They are constantly in my thoughts. I cannot stop thinking about your mighty works." 

If your thoughts can take you to dark places then they can also take you to great places and you have control of your thoughts. Yes, there is power in prayer but there is also power in praise and thanksgiving and that is where you and I need to first go in our prayer and then to our needs. There is great power in praise and thanksgiving, in remembering his wonderful deeds and thinking about His mighty works.

"But then I recall." Yes, yes! todaysbeginning 

Labels

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Friday... Yes, we need them. We really do

Psalm 8:3-4 (NLT), "When I look at the night sky and see the work of your fingers - the moon and the stars you set in place - what are mere mortals that you should think about them, human beings that you should care for them?" Friday... Yes, we need them. We really do. No, not the fact that I can go out my front door and look out at night at the marvels of the sky. I can do that and it is amazing and it takes my breath away each time I see it. Yes, that is a fact but the reality of who did that and the wisdom and the faith that I have to believe that and to marvel that the one who did that cares about me makes such a difference in how I live my life. Yes, God really does. That is so wonderful for us to believe. And that is why faith and wisdom are so important. Now whatever belief you have at how that marvel happened must also be believed through faith. And the sad thing to me is that more and more people have been taught that there is no God and therefore he did not have a h...
Post a Comment
Read more

Monday... Three ifs and two thens. They go together!

Monday... Three ifs and two thens. They go together! They really do. And this is what caught my attention this morning as I was reading Proverbs 2. Verse 1 (NRSVUE) says, "My child, if you accept my words and treasure my commands within you." Verse 3 (NIV), "Indeed i f you call  out for insight and cry aloud for understanding, Verse 4, and if you look for it as for silver and search for it as for hidden treasure, Verse 5, then you will understand the fear of the Lord and find the knowledge of God." And verses 9-11, " Then you will understand what is right and just and fair - every good path. For wisdom will enter your heart, and knowledge will be pleasant to your soul. Discretion will protect you, and understanding will guard you." There will always be some effort we must do, some ifs for the thens to be realized in our lives. So many of us want to understand without the ifs. But the thens are so worth, so very worth the effort. Verses 5-6 in the Ampli...
Post a Comment
Read more

Wednesday... Our unless can turn into useless.

Wednesday... Our unless can turn into useless.  It really can. I have found that unless I give the correct email of my wife then I can't get what I wanted. I put an extra i in her email and I have been working for 5 days to get it changed. Unless has been useless. The writer of Psalm 94 uses this word and shows how important it is. Verses 17-19 (NLT) says, "Unless the Lord had helped me, I would have soon settled in the silence of the grave. I cried out, 'I'm slipping!' but your unfailing love, O Lord, supported me. When doubts filled my mind, your comfort gave me renewed hope and cheer." "Unless the Lord had helped me." So many people go on and on and on striving to live their life on their own but they keep slipping and doubting and living without hope and cheer. Yes the Lord has such unfailing love for us, he really does but unless we have a relationship with him and we turn to him and ask him for help then the unless turns in to useless because h...
Post a Comment
Read more