Making It Through the Day (Psalm 143)

If you wake me up each morning with the sound of your loving voice, I'll go to sleep each night trusting in you. (Psalm 143:7-8, MSG)

One (or two or even three) bad hours does not a bad day make. I learned this truth while struggling with my daughter's Borderline Personality Disorder. We had celebrated a marvelous "Jaralene" Day (Jaran + Jolene, the day between their March birthdays). Grammy was there, a rare treat. We had eaten out, opened presents, gone to a movie, and settled down to a game of Chinese checkers.

Jolene, who had behaved well all day long, fell apart. She threw the game board across the floor and stormed to her room. Mom was shaken. I was disappointed, but surprised? Not so much.

Mom said, "What a terrible day."

I said, "No, it wasn't. It was a good day, with a bad spot in the middle. I have learned to treasure the good hours--the good minutes, at times--because I rarely have an entire day that is 'good.'"

This weekend I thought about that long ago Jaralene day. For three hours, I was miserable and angrier than a hornet,to use a cliche. I needed help, and it took three hours to get it.

I decided those three hours didn't have to destroy the good day's work or the good night's rest, any more than Jolene's tantrum had to destroy our Jaralene day.

That philosophy jumped to my mind when I read the above verse. Come to God in the morning, hear His loving voice. Keep it in mind all day, so that by the time I go to sleep, I still feel like I'm floating on the cloud of His love. It reads like a seamless transition from love and God's presence in the morning to trust at night.

Sounds good. But where my life hits, my days are rarely that smooth. Perhaps if I made a better discipline of the remainder of the psalm, my days would go better.

• Stay on the road God has marked for me.
• Hope in God, not elsewhere.
• Follow where the Holy Spirit leads.
• Watch while God vanquishes my enemies.

Like any loving parent, God loves us morning, noon, and night. If we wake up to the sound of His voice and go to sleep remembering His goodness, He will declare it a good day.


Today's favorite verse: I wonder why you care, God--why do you bother with us at all? All we are is a puff of air; we're like shadows in a campfire. (Psalm 144:3-4, MSG)

The End - The first (Deuteronomy 32-34)

This is the first year I have reached the end of the five books of the law with regret. Genesis always gives me a buzz, but I slow down when I which the temple construction in Exodus and Leviticus has me reading words and not thinking.

But making myself really think about what I was reading has blessed me beyond measure, and I pray it has touched your lives as well.  The word of God is indeed a sharp, two-edged sword.  It is harsh and frightening--and it is close up and personal.

Choosing which words of wisdom from the end of Moses's sermon (and life) is like trying to choose from a box of chocolates. They're all so good, and they all reflect themes we've touched on over and over. So I'll give you yet another list.

OUR REASON FOR READING THESE OLD, DRY BOOKS: Read up on what happened before you were born; dig into the past, understand your roots. (Deuteronomy 32:6-7).  
     Oh boy, have I learned a lot about my roots. When I scratched the surface, I discovered truths as relevant today as they were 3400 years ago, and the same passionate God seeking a relationship with me.

BY THE END OF DEUTERONOMY, WE ARE READY TO FLY: He was like an eagle hovering over its nest, overshadowing its young, then spreading its wings, lifting them into the air, teaching them to fly. (Deuteronomy 32:10-14, MSG)
   But the only way I learn how to fly is to be dropped in mid-air--straight into the fight for the promised land. As a friend said, scary and exhilerating at the same time.

GOD IS GOD, AND WE CAN'T ESCAPE HIM. I bring death and I give life, I wound and I heal--there is no way of getting away from or around me! (Deuteronomy 32:39-42, MSG)
       Like it or not, God is there. We either join Him or fight Him, but we can't ignore Him.

GOD IS GOD, AND HE WILL NEVER ABANDON US. God's beloved; God's permanent residence. Encircled by God all day long, within whom God is at home. (Deuteronomy 33:12, MSG)

In summary  - God wishes for us to live with

THE SMILE OF THE BURNING-BUSH DWELLER

(Deuteronomy 32:13-17, MSG)

WHAT DO I WANT FROM GOD (Deuteronomy 7)

God, on His part, will keep the covenant of loyal love he made with your ancestors: He will love you. He will bless you. He will increase you. (Deuteronomy 7:13, MSG)

Moses summarizes the blessings God will give to people who show their love by keeping His law:

• I will love you.
• I will bless you.
• I will increase you.

That list covers about everything I want and need. 

I crave love. I am a romantic; I write Christian romance, after all.  Although I bask in the love of my family and of my friends, above all I know that God loves me. 

I need God's blessing. I'm not talking about blessings of prosperity. I need His presence with me, His sustaining grace--His salvation.

I hope for God's increase. I hope for my sphere of influence to expand, I pray that God will use my oh-so-imperfect words and life to touch other's with God's love and His grace (see above two).

The next time you wonder what to ask for, for yourself or someone else, rely on God's promise: His love. His blessing. His increase. 

Amen.

Bonus post: For Valentines Day.

To the God who is love. Who defines and exemplifies love. Whose standard of love is lifted so high that we at best can only reflect that love. I worship You, I adore You, I love You on this day of love. I write a love letter to You. . .

I love You because You first loved me. You are my Father. You made me. You made me and designed me, inside and out. You made me over again at my new birth, and gave me new and beautiful gifts. 

You put me with people who loved me, in spite of all their flaws. Mom and Grandma, Aunt Violet, 

Aunt Lucille. 

You put me in a country where I could think independently and not be punished. Where I could pursue an education. Where I could enjoy Your gifts of music and art and literature--and even to express them myself.

You've given me the beauty of a sunset, the majesty of a mountain piercing the sky, the lullaby of ocean waves crashing on the shore. 

You've given me the love of a child, or two children, of grandchildren . . . and such a wealth of life and love and memories and pain lies in those words, but in them, I know Your deepest love.

You have given me friends and churches and writers, fro here to Australia and back again, who have enriched my life. 

You have given me Ray. Which is still the newest, and most precious, gift of all, on this day of love.

Not to mention all those spiritual gifts. Salvation, forgiveness, justification, hope for today and hope for tomorrow. 

You have walked with me through each and every day of my life, through the times when I was mistreated, when my heart broke, when I screwed up. Your presence sustained me even when I was unaware of it. 

How do I love Thee? Let me count the ways, and come up short, because the reasons why I love You are beyond measure. 

You love me beyond the farthest reach of the most distant galaxy. You love me to the depth of the bottomless sea. You love me beyond time itself. 

Happy Valentines Day to the Lover of my Soul. 

FEEL-GOOD PROMISE

At last!  After several days of struggling with subjects such as the murder of children and blessing our enemies, today I paused on a genuinely feel-good, it's-wonderful-to-be God's child kind of verse.  

In Exodus 15, Moses sang a song about crossing the Red Sea. Exodus 15:12-13 definitely draws a line between "them" and "us." The Earth swallowed up "them"--those miserable slave-owning, refusing to let go Egyptians. 

But "us?"  We are redeemed--today, by the lamb of God, as surely as the Passover lamb redeemed the Israelites. 

We are led by His love. Have you ever heard the quote, "The will of God will never lead you where the grace of God cannot keep you?" His love accompanies us, wherever we are.

He guides us. Day by day. I might like a map of the next six months (six years?) but He shows me what I need today.

We are under His protection. (That is one of the definitions of "blessing," by the way. I discovered that in my work on my Blessing Factor  book)

He is taking us to His holy pasture.  A pasture to rest and eat--where we are set apart.

Wow: redeemed, loved, guided, protected, set apart, provided for.

That's what God wants for you. Put it in your warm fuzzy file. 

FAMILY TREES (Genesis 35-37)

Generally, I tend to skip through the genealogies in the Bible. Oh, I read them,but with little thought. Today brought me to Esau's genealogy. 

A single verse stopped me this morning: This is the family tree of Seir the Horite, who were native to the land. (Genesis 36:20, MSG)

I read it again and did a search on "Seir" in the concordance. No, I hadn't misunderstood it. Seir was related to Esau by marriage; Seir's daughter Timna was the concubine of Esau's son. But Seir and his descendents are not Esau's descendants, nor Abraham's.

So why do they have a place in the Bible? I have been struck this year by the things we don't learn about. Hagar and Ishmael had such a legacy of faith--what happened to it, to them, after they went their own way? We don't have a clue about the history of Abraham's sons by his second wife, Keturah. They appear and disappear from the Bible scene, while the family line of Israel (i.e. Jacob and his sons) remains in the spotlight, with a brief list of Ishmael and Esau's descendants.

So why. . .Seir? I can guess at political and historical reasons for interest in Seir, but why is he mentioned in the very selective record God included in the Bible?

I take comfort that even as God zeroed in on the family line of the Savior of all mankind, He took the time to let us know about one family that was outside of that special favor.A family perhaps that understood something about Jehovah-God from the encounter with Esau. A family that remained as Israel's neighbor, undefeated, when they later conquered the promised land.

The fact that God isn't shining His spotlight on us doesn't mean that He doesn't see us and doesn't care.

He cared about Seir the Horite. He cares about me.