Corona Devo 1025

He lifted me out of the slimy pit, out of the mud and mire; he set my feet on a rock and gave me a firm place to stand.  ~Psalm 40:2

Will I go to hell for (sometimes) feeling like this "Season" is a slimy pit?

I try to claw my way out, but the mud and mire grip my mind, temperament, and my soul-fire...and I can't.  
Can't jingle-and-dance like the songs on the radio.
Can't spend money I don't have on things people don't need.
Can't connect with the Bible stories of wise men seeking and amazed shepherds.
Can't find the joy that advertisements blare and that many exude effortlessly, even amidst the ticking clock and heaps of have-to's.

I'm trying.  But I am in the mud and mire and in the slimy pit.  
Not everyone calls this the most wonderful time of the year.  
~~~

He lifted me out of the slimy pit, out of the mud and mire; he set my feet on a rock and gave me a firm place to stand.  ~Psalm 40:2

Even if we can't "Go tell it on a mountain" today, we can register the hope and the truth of a God who sees us in-our-sad, in-our-exhaustion, in-our-depression, in-our-slimy pit...and we can know that He will lift us out of the slimy pit.

He will set our feet on a rock.

He will give us a firm place to stand.  During this Season and all seasons.  

Wait for Him today.  He turns to us and He hears our cry today:

I waited patiently for the Lord; he turned to me and heard my cry.  (2) He lifted me out of the slimy pit, out of the mud and mire; he set my feet on a rock and gave me a firm place to stand. 

(3) He put a new song in my mouth, a hymn of praise to our God.  Many will see and fear the Lord and put their trust in him. 
(4) Blessed is the one who trusts in the Lord, who does not look to the proud, to those who turn aside to false gods. 
(5) Many, Lord my God, are the wonders you have done, the things you planned for us.  

(11) Do not withhold your mercy from me, Lord; may your love and faithfulness always protect me. 
(12) For troubles without number surround me... They are more than the hairs of my head, and my heart fails within me. 

(13) Be pleased to save me, Lord; come quickly, Lord, to help me.  
(16) But may all who seek you rejoice and be glad in you; may those who long for your saving help always say, “The Lord is great!” 
(17) But as for me, I am poor and needy; may the Lord think of me.  You are my help and my deliverer, you are my God, do not delay.  ~Psalm 40:1-5, 11-13, 16-17  

The Psalmist starts off (writing) from the pit, and then speaks gratefully of God lifting him out, and then he praises God a bit...but then in the end, the Psalmist slips right-back-into the slimy pit that had originally entrenched him.  I'm not sure if that down...then up...then back-down-again cycle is "healthy", but it sounds just like me.

I have my days.
Where the "joy" is out-of-reach, but the heaviness-of-life is completely present.  We all have those days.  God sees us on those days.

Let Him lift us out of the slimy pit cycle.  

Even on days when we are sitting down by ourselves, and we want to burst into tears.  

God sees us.  He sees us there.  He sees us today.  And He can provide refreshment for us in ways we didn't notice before.
. 
(15) When the water was gone, she put the boy in the shade of a bush. (16) Then she went and sat down by herself about a hundred yards away. “I don’t want to watch the boy die,” she said, as she burst into tears.  (17) But God heard the boy crying, and the angel of God called to Hagar from heaven, “Hagar, what’s wrong? Do not be afraid! God has heard the boy crying as he lies there. (18) Go to him and comfort him, for I will make a great nation from his descendants.”  
(19) Then God opened Hagar’s eyes, and she saw a well full of water. She quickly filled her water container and gave the boy a drink.  ~Genesis 21:15-19

If we find ourselves in the slimy pit, unable to claw our way out alone, maybe it's time we let the Lord lift us.  

He will.  

He will set my feet upon a rock, making my steps secure.  (Psalm 40:2).



Blessings,

sarah

https://sarahsundy04.blogspot.com 


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