Safety from the Sharks

For I hear many whispering,
    “Terror on every side!”
They conspire against me
    and plot to take my life.
But I trust in you, Lord;
    I say, “You are my God.”

Psalm 31:13-14 (NKJV)

Thought for Today: Jane had decided to take her sea kayak out from Point Judith and paddle to Block Island even though the ocean seemed a bit rough that day and the weather looked like it might be getting worst.  Being an experienced kayaker, Jane felt that she could handle any weather and had no fear going out in any weather.  The view was beautiful on this fall morning.  As she left the shelter of Point Judith harbor, the sea was a bit rougher.  About one-quarter mile out from the safety of the harbor the swells were very high.  Jane tried as best as she could to keep the kayak from capsizing but then a giant wave hit and tipped her complete upside down.  Jane was able to escape from the overturned kayak but then another wave came and swept the partially-submerged kayak away from her, carrying it further out to sea.  Being a strong swimmer, she thought about pursuing the kayak but then it sank out of sight.  Jane's only recourse was to swim back to the harbor.  As she began to swim, she noticed a bit of blood on her arm from a cut sustained when the kayak tipped over.  Suddenly, out of nowhere, came several sharks attracted by the scent of blood.  Jane tried not to panic and continued to swim towards safety.  The sharks circled, trying to prevent her from swimming to shore.  To her astonishment, four bottle-nose dolphins appeared and swam beside, behind and in front of Jane to protect her from the sharks.  This magnificent team swam with her all the way to shore so that she could safely leave the water.

Perhaps you feel that you are surrounded by sharks, waiting to devour you. Your sharks might be people, but more than likely, they are emotions and circumstances.  You want to get to a safe place in life but find that you are about to be devoured. Perhaps you can't get over negative emotions or perhaps you are living in chaos due to a sick child, lost income, health issue or a host of other circumstances.  Like Jane, you can't be devoured if you are surrounded.  Who can surround you in the midst of your difficult circumstances?  Only the Lord.  He will put a shield around you, provide protection and peace.  But, you know what, He likely won't just appear like the dolphin team.  You need to ask Him for help, ask for protection, peace, and guidance.  He will provide for you because He loves you deeper than you could ever know.

Heavenly Father, we face so many trials in our lives; difficult circumstances, lost jobs, broken relationships to name a few.  You, oh Lord, know our pain and want to walk with us through our trials.   May learn this day to trust in You and You alone.  In Jesus' name, we pray. Amen.

Forgotten?

I am forgotten like a dead man, out of mind;

I am like a broken vessel.

Psalm 31:12 (NKJV)

Thought for Today: Jeff awoke in a North Vietnamese prison camp.  Last he knew, he had been fighting with the 1st Calvary Division at Quang Tri. It was 1968 and the North Vietnamese Tet Offensive was in full swing.  He had no idea how he had gotten to the prison camp.  He looked down at his legs and saw the blood-soaked bandages covering the wounds inflicted by a morter shell.  What would follow were five long years of forced labor, beatings and sometimes solitary confinement.  Even more painful than the physical trauma, Jeff had no idea if his government or his family even knew that he was still alive.  He also did not know how his wife and children were, since there was no communication with family allowed from the prison camp.  He indeed felt forgotten.

Have you ever felt forgotten, out of the mind of someone else or a group of people? While the reality of death is that the memory of us will fade in others, there are other things in life that can cause us to feel forgotten.  Perhaps you have divorced and feel forgotten by your ex-spouse and your adult children.  Maybe a relationship has ended or is strained.  Distance and circumstances can also cause us to feel out of the minds of others. Have you ever felt forgotten by God?  

Jeff's wife Anne wrote letters to him every day while he was missing in action. She prayed continually for his safe return.  In 1973 he was freed as part of Operation Homecoming.  After a brief hospitalization, he was able to return home. His wife and children waited for him when he landed at the airfield. As they embraced Anne told him that she had never forgotten him and would never have even if he never came home.

Dear reader, do you think that your perceived distance from the Lord has caused Him to forget you?  He who knows every hair on your head, every thought that you have will never forget. If you feel broken today, thinking that you are too far from the Lord ever to be back in His arms, think again.  His arm is not too short to save, and His mercy is unending.  Confess your brokenness, your pain, your sin, your guilt; whatever it is that is keeping you from Him.  If you are angry with Him, tell Him so for He has broad shoulders.  But mostly, just open the lines of communication so that He can have fellowship with you, the one He so loves and for whom he gave His all.

Heavenly Father, in our humanness we so often put up barriers to You.  Help us to see that Your love knows no barriers nor knows no bounds.  Teach us to love You and to accept Your love and Your free gift of grace. In Jesus' precious name we pray.  Amen.

Abandoned? Surrender

Because of all my enemies,

I am the utter contempt of my neighbors

and an object of dread to my closest friends—

those who see me on the street flee from me.

Psalm 31:11 (NIV)

Thought for Today: Jim had been a hardworking man, holding down multiple jobs to support his family while also being a leader in his church.  Jim was everyone's friend, always offering a smile and a helping hand.  Family and friends would come by every day for advice or just to chat.  All of that seemed to end when Jim's secret life was exposed.  You see, for many years, while maintaining a facade of being the devoted husband, father and church member, Jim was also leading a double life.  He had met Jennifer at work, they became close and then entangled in an affair.  Jim's wife found out and all came crashing down. Now, no one stopped by the house and he dare not show his face in church.  Alone and abandoned, Jim has nowhere to turn.

When I think about verse 11 of Psalm 31, I can't help but think about the enemies inside of us.  Perhaps it is lust, greed or deceit.  Maybe it is hatred or pride. All of these, when they fester inside of us, work their way out.  It could be in subtle ways, but also could be on a grander scale.  Either way, what lies in our hearts eventually will be exposed to the light.  Have you ever felt abandoned by those around you?  Perhaps avoided.  Worst yet, have you ever felt abandoned by yourself, never expecting that you would make choices that have placed you on the road that you are now traveling?

Jesus knew abandonment and rejection.  Isaiah 53:3 tells us that He was despised and rejected by men.  Even more painful though was His abandonment by the Father who He had known for all time.  As He was about to die on the cross, He cried out “Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?”  translated as "My God, My God why have your forsaken me?"  Imagine the pain of being abandoned by the One who you are one with and  have been with from the beginning of time?  All of this, dear reader, for you and for me, for our sins, our pride, our lust, our envy, our greed.  

How then should we respond?  Surrender your abandonment to Him.  Go to the Lord in prayer and ask Him to forgive you and ask for healing.  Only in surrender, abandoning ourselves to Him, can we experience new life.  May you run to the Lord today and surrender.  He will heal you.

Dear Jesus, we can't even begin to imagine the depth of abandon that you felt at the cross.  Thank you for enduring that for our sake.  We ask that you forgive us for not abandoning ourselves in your grace.  We ask that you heal our broken hearts.  Amen.

Failing Strength

For my life is spent with grief,
And my years with sighing;
My strength fails because of my iniquity,
And my bones waste away.
Psalm 31:10 (NKJV)

Thought for Today: I ran into Max on the streets of Boston one day when I was going to lunch. He looked like he once had a good life, but had fallen into hard times.  He asked me for some change.  Instead, I decided to offer to bring him with me for lunch.  Max and I talked for over an hour about life and how the choices that we make have a lasting impact.  As Max and I parted ways, he said to me, "Don't waste your life making bad choices as I have done.  Choose wisely and you will finish strong."  As I walked back to my office, Max's words hung over me.  I knew that we can make our own future, good or bad, by the choices that we make today.  Yet, I never really thought about how a lot of little choices add up and weigh you down.

Perhaps today you are experience grief, like you have lost your strength and your way.   Maybe you feel so far removed from God because of what you have done in this life, your iniquities.  Nothing that you have done or can do will separate you from God's love for you.  If you have received Jesus as your Lord and Savior, you are forgiven of everything that you have ever done and will ever do.  End of story. Yet, as a believer, we will feel grief from our sins, we will feel a distance from the Lord until we confess our sins and restore fellowship with the Lord.  Dear reader, this day do you feel that you have gone over the edge of a cliff and fallen into a pit of your own doing?  The arm of the Lord is never too short to save and pull you from the pit. But, you need to ask for His mercy and forgiveness.  If you have never committed your life to Christ, that is the first step, asking Him to forgive you for all of your sins and trusting completely in His salvation.  If you are already a believer, all it takes is a simple prayer, asking Him to forgive, asking Him to help you to change so that you may live the life that He has called you to.

Heavenly Father, we ask that you forgive us of all of the bad choices that we have made in this life, even the seemingly small ones.  Forgive us for not always putting You first in our lives and for letting sin get in the way of a relationship with You, our ever-loving God.  In Jesus' name we pray.  Amen.

Secret Sin

Have mercy on me, O Lord, for I am in trouble;
My eye wastes away with grief,
Yes, my soul and my body!
Psalm 31:9 (NKJV)

Thought for Today: The knot in his stomach grew larger as Jim sat waiting in the courthouse for his trial to begin. For so long, he had been doing well in his job, being the go-to person for the CEO and a role model for the entire organization.  At least until the auditors came one day to take a look at the books.  They uncovered how Jim had been moving money from the company into his own personal account.  He had been able to cover this up for many years, but now he had been exposed.  Facing the possibility of a prison sentence, Jim could not contain the anxiety inside.  He was indeed grieving his poor choices, feeling all in his life slowly slipping away.

Perhaps today you are caught up in a secret sin.  If you have given your life to Christ, the Holy Spirit can’t help but to convict you of that sin.  You may feel that you are wasting away, not knowing where to turn.  Your friends can’t know. Your spouse can’t know.  Surely, if anyone finds out about this sin, they will surely look down upon you and now longer want anything to do with you.  Dear reader, there is One who knows your sin because He died for it.  There is nothing that you can do or anything that you have ever done that is beyond His forgiveness.  Jesus paid for your sins, all of them, secret and exposed, at the cross.  Have you trusted Him and asked Him to be your lord and savior? If not, please do so today.  If you have, then go to Him, confess your sin and ask for His cleansing and renewal.  He will heal us of all of our iniquities.

Heavenly Father, you know our sin.  You sent your son Jesus to pay for our sins.  May we rest in Your forgiveness.  You alone can restore us and deliver us. Amen.

A Wide Place

And have not shut me up into the hand of the enemy;
You have set my feet in a wide place.
Psalm 31:8 (NKJV)

Thought for Today: Last summer while swimming in the ocean with my family I was trying to catch up to my daughter, who was a little too far out in deeper water.  Although she is a good swimmer, there have been a lot of riptides lately and many people have been rescued by lifeguards as they were about to be swept out to sea.  With my total focus on her, I did not notice that I was walking in between rocks which made my footing unstable nor did I see a large wave coming right at me.  My legs were thrown into a large rock underwater, resulting in a good size gash on one leg.  

Sometimes, we are so concerned with the circumstances around us that we don't know where our feet are planted. Perhaps we are looking to the future without considering where we presently stand.  Maybe there is anxiety about some future event that has us paralyzed.  Fear can be such an enemy at times, robbing us of balance in our lives as well as joy.  

Just as I had been hit by a large wave, so too can anxiety sweep us off of our feet, leaving us feeling smashed and in pain.  Had I been paying attention that day in the ocean, I would have kept my feet on more stable ground and perhaps would not have been thrown into the rocks.  Do you feel overcome by fear and anxiety?  Are you afraid of it consuming you?  Our Lord promises that He will not let us be shut up into the hand of the enemy.  He can and will set your feet in a wide place, a place of stability and of peace.  All He wants you to do is surrender your fear to Him and ask Him to take it from you.  It is so simple, yet so difficult.  Trust Him to plant your feet on solid ground.

Heavenly Father, we are so tossed about by fear and anxiety.  Yet, you promise us perfect peace if we only trust in You for our comfort, our healing.  May we rest in You this day, knowing that we can cast all anxiety upon you.