"Seven times a day I praise You..." and "Love Your law..." How do we do that? Well, we read God's Word, memorize it, ponder it, churn it over in our minds throughout the day, savor it, enjoy nourishment from it, and, here's the kicker, obey it. Or in other words, we put it into practice in the nitty gritty of our daily lives. Will we do that? Because if we do, it's a sure-fire prescription for joy, peace and hope no matter our circumstances. But when we don't? Well, let me tell you about that...
You see, my husband and I traveled to New Jersey with one of our youngest son for a golf tournament. And let me say right off the bat, we had a truly wonderful time. All you New Jersey detractors, if you'll head off the turnpike and into the little towns of NJ, you'll be amazed. It's absolutely beautiful...and the people were incredibly nice. Clearly southerners do not have a corner on hospitality.
The weather was great. The food was terrific. The tournament was spectacularly run and made all the competitors feel like kings and queens. We loved meeting lots of truly wonderful folks, from the parents and grandparents of the other players, to the boys themselves (I'm sure the girls were great too, but we were with the guys and their families), to the volunteers. And you could even see the skyline of Manhattan from the putting green. How about that?
Here's the other thing--I got to spend four straight days walking an absolutely gorgeous golf course with my husband...watching our son play golf...meeting and enjoying a number of terrific parents...savoring God's magnificent creation. What's not to love?
Nothing...except my crummy, no good, frustrating, terrible, ridiculous tendency to stress out and worry over about every putt and every shot. I've sat in the ICU beside the bedside of our unconscious daughter...wouldn't you think I'd have some perspective on what really matters? Wouldn't you think watching golf would be an absolute picnic in comparison? Wouldn't you think I'd be savoring every moment and resting in God's undeserved goodness?
Sigh. Not so much. Because it's amazing how quickly we forget to keep the main thing, the main thing. How prone we are to forget Whose we are, Who's in control, and Who has us in the palm of His hand. How easily we forget the priceless gift of God's amazing grace in our lives, His forgiveness, His love, His presence, His power...
If you're anything like me, when the storm clouds gather...or circumstances don't go the way you hoped...or stress presses in, you become a spiritual amnesiac.
That's why I so loved these verses, and especially that little phrase, "Seven times a day I praise You." Because we need to have specific, intentional ways to remember.
To immediately recall and remind us when the deadlines approach or the crisis hits or the stress trigger looms, or the busyness of life simply overwhelms us, that God is right there with us. That He is worthy. That He is beautiful. That He is all we need. That He's got us and those we love. And that in all those situations that frighten us or those circumstances that disappoint us or those everyday struggles that defeat us, He's using them all, all, all for our greater good and His greater glory. We may not be able to see it or understand it, but we can trust that it's true. If you ever doubt that, look at the cross. The most horrific injustice, the most terrible event, the most bewildering betrayal, suffering, and death...all resulted in the most unimaginably wondrous gift of love, grace, salvation, eternal life, heaven, and on and on.
So we have to remember. To do that we have to plant God's Word in our hearts and minds. We need to think about it, pray it, savor it, speak it, and obey it. And another practical way to remember is to praise Him continually throughout your day. Maybe even program your phone to remind you seven times a day. Thank Him for HIs presence. Praise Him for His creation. Rejoice in His gifts to you in people, food, home, dog, health, books, songs... The possibilities are limitless!
Sadly, for several hours on the golf course, however, I forgot. Oh mercy, what an impossibly slow learner and quick forgetter I am! But you've got to love the Lord's grace and His sense of humor, because He gave me a tangible reminder right smack in the middle of the round of golf in the form of these little fellows--
Now I've never ever described a frog as even remotely attractive, but there's a first time for everything, and these creatures were beauties! The moment we spotted them, I immediately thought of my dear friend Beth and her mama who loved frogs and would always put frog emojis in her texts to her children. Why? Because of the acronym for frog--Fully Rely On God.
It was like the Lord sending me a lifeline in the midst of my stress fog--"Emily, Fully Rely On God! Fully Remember God! Fully Rejoice in God! Fully Rest in God!" Stop worrying and start remembering. Stop striving and start relying. Stop stressing and start resting. Stop worrying and start rejoicing.
Yep, for a little while, I forgot...and so instead of relying I was striving; instead of rejoicing, I was worrying; and instead of resting, I was stressing. And in the process, I was sadly missing the joy of the moment, the beauty of place, the happiness of being with those I loved, and the wonder of God's presence with me. Until God sent a few frogs to remind me.
Thankfully, the Lord didn't give up on me--His amnesiac, slow learning, sin-prone child. And He won't give up on you either.
No matter how challenging or disappointing or frightening or overwhelming your circumstances, you have the choice today, right now, to turn to Him and simply rest in His presence. To tell Him You can't...but He can. To rely upon Him instead of all your own machinations and manipulations. To rejoice in Him continuously throughout your day. To return and run back to Him again and again after you forget and fail and fall down. And He will be there with His nail-scarred hands stretched out wide to welcome you back in His loving, forgiving, grace-filled, peaceful embrace.
Golf...and frogs...and remembering--What an endlessly creative, forgiving, wondrous Lord we serve! So today: Fully Rely On God. Fully Remember God. Fully Rejoice in God. Fully Rest in God. And be revived and restored and refilled. Your Abba is waiting. Run to Him.
To God be the glory.
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