Corona Devo 127

Yesterday our daughter came to the car red faced and holding back tears after a hot morning at a local soccer camp.  I wish it had just been the heat that had gotten to her, but instead it was "the world".  The world can be mean, cold, unjust and painful.  She had experienced all of those things through another 9-year old that day.  

We have all been on the receiving end of a mean person.  Is anyone else honest enough to admit that we have also been the mean person?  

Our ego's get out of control, or our jealousy, or maybe we are just having a bad day.  I am not sure what the other little girl's story was, but from what I understood, she had tripped our daughter from behind three times during scrimmages, and the last one was such a hard fall in full motion that it knocked the wind out of our girl.  Our daughter's upper arm also bore a greenish-blue fresh bruise from where the other child had punched her during a play.  And the worst "hurt" came from hearing a small group of other girls (bully included) "talking about her" when they all left the field.

My husband and I consoled her of course, but it also presented a necessary parenting opportunity (and reminder to myself) to discuss the reality of "the world", and the people that inhabit it (us included!).  We will have hard days.  We have to learn how to navigate through them with Jesus as our guide to persevering. 

I asked God for help.  I wanted to be compassionate but honest with our daughter, because the groundwork that we lay with our children for dealing with adverse situations and people will shape their lives.  In my Bible reading today was Psalm 143.  In it, David is running (hiding!) from one of his enemies.  David is praying to God for help and guidance.  It was a perfect parallel for our daughter and me to pray through before she went to soccer camp the next day.  And it changed everything: both of our attitudes, our outlook, and I believe it changed the outcome.

Psalm 143

A psalm of David.

1 Hear my prayer, O Lord; listen to my plea!  Answer me because you are faithful and righteous.

I love that David is honest about begging the Lord for help in his situation.  We can be honest with God-- also, we need to be!  Who do we think we are kidding by putting up a front?  Not Jesus.

And the 2nd part of this verse is critical.  As I explained to our daughter, David is asking God for help, but at the same time he is reminding Himself of how faithful and righteous God is.  (Answer me because you are faithful and righteous.  ~Psalm 143:1)  The Lord will work in our situations.  He is so faithful.  We often forget that piece if it (or forget to give God honor for that piece of it) when we are in the "asking' stage.  

3 My enemy has chased me.  He has knocked me to the ground...  ~Psalm 143:3

Whaaaaaat?  Is that scripture narrating (my) life or what?  Our daughter did actually get chased and knocked down by "her enemy" less than 24 hours before we were reading these Bible verses.  

But stick with me, because even if these two physical things don't actually happen to any of us, we certainly have situations, people, fears and concerns that chase us down and knock us to the ground, don't we?  And whether we are 9 years old or 79 years old, the "bully" situations and people of life make all of us feel the same things:

4 I am losing all hope; I am paralyzed with fear.  ~Psalm 143:4

Scary people or unknowns do both of these things to us.  Alone, we can lose hope and feel paralyzed.

5 I remember the days of old.  I ponder all your great works and think about what you have done. ~Psalm 143:5.  Good for David!  He gives us great parenting and personal advice: even in the midst of our struggles, we should revert our minds and memories to all of the beautiful things God has done for us in the past.  Situations and relationships that He has rectified.  Hard times that developed our character and possibly even made us better because we persevered positively in Christ through them.  The easy way is almost never the route that will build character and faith.

6 I lift my hands to you in prayer.  I thirst for you as parched land thirsts for rain.

7 Come quickly, Lord, and answer me, for my depression deepens.  Don’t turn away from me, or I will die. ~Psalm 143:6-7

Okay, so luckily our daughter wasn't feeling quite this heavy, but you and I can probably recount a time when we were in an emotional pit.  Maybe it's now.  David felt it too.  He also then gave Godly counsel on how to crawl out of that dark place:

8 Let me hear of your unfailing love each morning, for I am trusting you.

Show me where to walk, for I give myself to you.  ~Psalm143:8

Wow--does this grip you like it did me?  

The first line cements scripture's encouragement to read God's word in the morning.  It's the only way we could possibly "hear of your unfailing love each morning", and because I did, God literally outlined our personal situation and gave us hope and encouragement for it.  That is what God has designed the Bible to do.  Please read it--it is a gift that the Lord has given us.  Unwrap it every morning!

"Show me where to walk, for I give myself to you."  That is complete humility, especially in a situation where we have been wronged by another person.  But God whispers to our souls, "Let me handle it."  And when she and I both let it all go, and prayed to give the situation and ourselves to Him: the anger lifted.  The angst left.  The pay-back mentality disappeared.  And we were freed from all of that.

10 Teach me to do your will, for you are my God.  May your gracious Spirit lead me forward on a firm footing.

11 For the glory of your name, O Lord, preserve my life.  Because of your faithfulness, bring me out of this distress.

12 In your unfailing love, silence all my enemies and destroy all my foes, for I am your servant.  ~Psalm 143:10-12

All of this.  All of this I prayed for our daughter as she walked back on the field today, and all of this I pray for each of us as we walk onto our fields today.  

The world can be mean, cold, unjust and painful.  But God is kind--we can be kind and it will change things.  God is warmth and friendship instead of envy and cold.  God is just--we can forgive and know that He will have justice.  And when pain comes, and it will, we can exhale and rest in Jesus, who soothes our earthly pain, and promises an eternity where there will be no more bully situations.

Lord, we love You.  For today, Show me where to walk, for I give myself to you.  ~Psalm 143:8

Blessings,

sarah

https://sarahsundy04.blogspot.com/