Tuesday, May 18, 2010

"How Long Will This Break Last?"

Scripture Passage



Scripture Focus

Is his unfailing love gone forever?
     Have his promises permanently failed?
                                  (Psalm 77:8 NLT)

Observation

Ever been there—when you wondered if maybe God had gone on some kind of extended break or something? If maybe He’d just decided you weren’t worth messing with or had even forgotten you completely?

The psalmist Asaph seems to be there in Psalm 77. But then he does a really smart thing. He chooses to remember.

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.
                                         (Psalm 77:11-12 NLT)

Myself—I like how intentional this seems. At the risk of making too much of it, Asaph didn’t write “I recalled…I remembered”, but rather he writes in the present tense—“I recall…I remember”—like it’s something he’s doing intentionally and purposefully…like he’s *choosing* to rehearse in his mind the mighty saving acts of God on his behalf.

Or (as someone said it recently) he’s choosing to be an author of his story rather than a victim of his circumstances.

Me, too, Jesus—me, too! Help me—when circumstances make me wonder whether your promises have “permanently failed”—to recall all you have done…to remember your wonderful deeds of long ago, and to know that your ways are holy…that there is no god as mighty as you!

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