Tuesday, October 6, 2009

In Need of Him


It is of the LORD's mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not. They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness. Lamentations 3:22, 23 (King James Version)


I need the reminder of today’s passage. When my failures and weaknesses give me reason to give up. When my actions and attitudes give others cause to grow frustrated as the patience and love have warn thin. When the enemy of my soul has more ammunition to fire at me then I feel able to withstand. When feelings of worthlessness, insignificance, and sinfulness engulf me and peace, joy, and hope elude me. I need the awareness that God’s mercies and faithfulness do not fail. Rather, they are new every morning. When I least deserve it and shouldn’t have it, His faithfulness abounds. His grace. His compassion. His tenderness. My need.

I wonder this morning how I can come away from a 72 hour retreat with such resolve and promise, only to fall to the issues of life within a day. Did I know the enemy would attack? Yes. Did I realize my flesh would still be very much alive? Absolutely. Do I like what I see in myself and what I know others see as well? No. My desire for consistent strength and victory seem polar worlds apart from my reality. I am not what I want to be and I am grieved that I am not what God wants me to be. Yet His mercies are new today. His faithfulness continues.

He is urging me to get my heart right. He is pleading with me not to go into hiding or withdrawal. He knows the tendencies of my heart and the thoughts that have consumed me in the night. He is fully aware of steps I want to take that would not be for my good or His glory. The battle rages. The thoughts abound. The temptations are many. Yet His mercies are new and fresh today. His faithfulness continues. Not a bit of His loving kindness fades.

In the quietness of this moment, I dare to raise my eyes to His. Not because I fear He will reject me but because I am sickened by my own setbacks and wobbly steps. It is a new day. He is the same God. I am in need of much. Is it any wonder He calls Himself my Rock, Shelter, Stronghold, Abba Father?

Father, the valley after a mountain top experience is always so dark. So foreboding. So uncomfortable. I need You. Amen.

He Knows My Name - Tommy Walker
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xkw3a4raWfg

Getting into God's Word and letting God's Word get into me one truth at a time.
http://pathways2freedom.blogspot.com/