Sometimes I wake in the night for no apparent reason, finding myself listening to the quiet around me as I reflect on my yesterday and my tomorrow. Some nights those reflections bring thoughts of peace and joy, but there are those nights when my heart fails within me and I feel a loneliness that engulfs me. In each of those moments I find myself drawn to the fact that whether in praise or petition the Lord is my song in the night.

“Yet the Lord will command His lovingkindness in the daytime, and in the night His song shall be with me, and my prayer unto the God of my life.” Psalms 42:8

I am reminded that whether by day or by night He is with me, He is the God of my life. He is my song in the night.

“I call to remembrance my song in the night: I commune with mine own heart: and my spirit made diligent search.” Psalms 77:6

When I seek Him, He can be found if I seek Him diligently and He promises to be my song in the night.

“Ye shall have a song, as in the night when a holy solemnity is kept; and gladness of heart, as when one goeth with a pipe to come into the mountain of the Lord, to the mighty One of Israel.” Isaiah 30:29

“The Lord is my strength and song, and He is become my salvation, He is my God, and I will prepare Him a habitation; my father’s God, and I will exalt Him.” Exodus 15:2

Not only is He my song in the night, but He has given me a new song that I might sing praises unto Him.

“And He hath put a new song in my mouth, even praise unto our God, many shall see it, and fear, and shall trust in the Lord.” Psalms 40:3

There are two times a year when we have the opportunity to see God’s creation in full color, spring and fall. There are most certainly other times when His color is visible, but there is something truly remarkable about the vivid colors of spring and fall in sharp contrast to what was before. I think the colors of spring are made even more powerful after the drab and miserable aspects of winter have left us feeling cold and weary; while fall explodes in its array of color just as summer has reached the point where the grass is starting to struggle from the heat and the flowers are starting to thin. So it is that as we see spring and fall come into full color. Reflecting thus, I can not help but wonder what it will be like to see Heaven in full color.

“But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love Him.” I Corinthians 2:9

“For now we see through a glass darkly, but then face to face; now I know in part, but then shall I know even as I am know.” I Corinthians 13:12

So as I sit with coffee in hand revealing in the changing colors around me I am pausing to breath in the promise of what it will be like when I see Heaven in full color.

“I don’t feel very strong today Lord, I’m lifting my face up to you seeking your light in the midst of a darkness that I feel threatening to engulf me. The path before me is unclear and I need you to show me the way.” I found this note written within the pages of my prayer journal sometime back and was reminded of how God has brought me out of a darkness I once felt.

For each of us these moments may stem from a variety of circumstances, it might be pain, loneliness, loss, hurt, or just doubt that threatens to control our lives.

In these moments we stand quivering in our frailty, unsure of what we thought we knew; but God stands ready with a plan that He put into place long ago before time or the thought of our identity ever became a reality. We question His ability to reveal, to unfold the path before us as we take each step. The Ruler and Creator of the universe, the Master of all that has ever been or will ever be has put a plan in place for who He would have us to be and the light that He would shed upon this world through us.

“But if from thence thou shalt seek the LORD thy God, thou shalt find him, if thou seek him with all thy heart and with all thy soul.” Deuteronomy 4:29

“For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.” II Corinthians 4:6

Today I lift my gaze upward, seeking His light, His strength, the fullness of who He is as Lord of my life through the work of Jesus Christ. I open my heart to Him that He might shine the light of His knowledge and glory through me, as I seek His light.

“I am come a light into the world, that whosoever believeth in me should not abide in darkness.” John 12:46

There are many things in life that I treasure; my family, my church, my friends, my home, my health . . . .  but day-by-day, I find that one of life’s greatest treasures is that of peace. Peace is a gift that can only be found in God, He provides peace . . . peace for yesterday, peace for tomorrow, but most importantly “peace for today“.

“The Lord will give strength unto his people; the Lord will bless his people with peace.” Psalm 29:11

“Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on thee.” Isaiah 26:3

“Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you, not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.” John 14:27

In the chaos of today, breathe in the promise of peace that we have been given, feel it flood through your body like a fresh drink of water and remember who it is that we serve; the one who gives us “peace for today”.

 

While listening to my son share a Sunday School lesson that took place in Egypt a long time ago. I was reminded of the many steps along the way that bring us to the realization of the plan God has for our lives. Joseph was the main character of the story, finding himself in a peculiar situation. Years before his brothers had sold him into slavery because they saw him as a constant thorn in their side. They grew weary of his dreams of one day being ruler over them. This led to the trail of dreadful events that would unfold, bringing Joseph to the very place where all of his dreams would come true.

“And God sent me before you a prosperity in the earth and to save your lives by a great deliverance. So now it was not you that sent me hither, but God; and He hath made me a father to Pharaoh, and a ruler through all the land of Egypt.” Genesis 45:7-8

Often we feel lost and abandoned in the midst of our circumstances, we can not see any possible way ahead. We feel as if God has completely forgotten who we are and where He originally planned for us to go. All the while it’s an entirely different story all together. He knows exactly where we are going, how we will get there, what we will experience along the way and when we will arrive.

“For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the Lord, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end.” Jeremiah 29:11

It’s a matter of us trusting Him for who He is, acknowledging Him for the power He possesses, and submitting to the plan He has already laid in place for our lives. Our lives are not unfolding before us by happenstance, the various circumstances that have occurred in our lives did not take God but surprise. Far back in the distant past with the creation of the world, He knew exactly what would take place in our lives today, tomorrow and next week. For He is God.

“For ye have need of patience, that after ye have done the will of God, ye might receive the promise.” Hebrews 10:36

“Being confident of this very thing, that He which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ.” Philippians 1:6

“Be still and know that I am God.” Psalms 46:10a

Lately I’ve thought a lot about what it means to have a heart for God, to know the heart of God and what it meant for David to be called “a man after God’s own heart”. “And when He had removed him, He raised up unto them David to be their king; to whom also He gave testimony, and said, I have found David the son of Jesse, a man after mine own heart, which shall fulfill all my will.” Acts 13:22

Each morning as I seek to spend time in God’s word I find my heart yearning for more; more time in His word, more of Him in me, more of His heart in mine, more of a heart for God.

With this desire, my heart cries out for God to help me make this a reality in my life; but then I feel my own smallness and inadequacies. I feel my unworthiness rise up to remind me of who I am and who I am not. My failures come before me taunting me; and thus within my brokenness, I seek Him pouring out the desires of my heart before Him wanting a heart for Him as never before.

Where better to turn than to the scriptures from a man after God’s own heart.

In my heart’s longing to be near Him: “My soul longeth, yea, even fainter for the courts of the Lord: my heart and my flesh crieth out for the living God.” Psalms 84:2

In my heart’s acknowledgement of my inadequacies: “For innumerable evils have compassed me about: mine iniquities have taken hold upon me, so that I am not able to look up; they are more than the hairs of mine head: therefore my heart faileth me.” Psalms 40:12

In my heart’s daily need of who He is: “Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart, be acceptable in thy sight, O LORD, my strength, and my redeemer.” Psalms 19:14

In my heart’s desire to be pure before Him: “Examine me, O Lord, and prove me: try my reins and my heart.” Psalms 26:2

In my heart’s seeking to be near Him: “When thou saidst, Seek ye my face; my heart said unto thee, Thy face, Lord, will I seek.” Psalms 27:8

In my heart’s desire to glorify Him: “I will praise thee, O Lord my God, with all my heart: and I will glorify thy name for evermore.” Psalms 86:12

Each day is a new reality of the continual process of seeking to have a heart for God. Each day I desire to have Him living within me and through me; as I continue to pursue a heart for Him. “I will put my laws into there mind, and write them in their hearts: and I will be to them a God, and they shall be to me a people.” Hebrews 8:10b

With each new phase of life we find ourselves looking back remembering special moments and special people that made our lives better by just being who they were in their own uniqueness. We remember what they taught us and how they made us feel. Then on the other hand we remember those that hurt us, those who betrayed us or those that destroyed a piece of our world that can never be replaced.

Each of us looked back yesterday in remembrance of that fateful day on the morning of September 11, when the world we knew as Americans changed all together. We felt pieces of what we thought to be torn from us, the sense of security we had felt in our own homeland ripped from us leaving our lives forever changed.

The lives of those that were taken from us touched an entire country altering the way we viewed those around us. We began to love each other as we were, not as we thought we should be. Color, race, gender, socioeconomic status: none of that matter because we saw each other as people, lives that could be taken in one brief moment of time. But, all too soon we forgot those moments and returned to our own practice of destroying each other through our own selfish desires and prideful natures. We failed to remember.

The children of Israel exhibited this same sense of forgetfulness in the book of Malachi. Just last night, out pastor shared with us of the turning of the Israelites from all that God had done for them, all the love He had shown them, all the promises He had kept. They doubted His love, questioned His motives and grew to despise Him. They failed to remember.

But, there were those who did remain faithful, those who never forgot God’s goodness. Those who remembered all that He had done for them. Then comes the exciting part, God said that those were the ones He would place in His book or remembrance. He promised to remember them. How truly amazing to be remembered by God, to be placed in God’s book of remembrance.

“Then they that feared the LORD spake often one to another: and the LORD hearkened, and heard it, and a book of remembrance was written before Him for them that feared the LORD, and that thought upon His name.” Malachi 3:16

I want to remember God’s goodness in my life, I want to remain faithful. I want to be remembered by the one who made me and gave me life. The one who has forever remained faithful in His promises to me. I want to be remembered and I never want to forget.

One morning I paused, breathing in the rays of sunshine that filtered their way through the blinds as if inhaling would capture the radiant essence of their brilliance. Today was a new day full of positive energy and potential. Already the list of items on the day’s agenda were flooding through my mind an ever beckoning reminder of the ticking of the clock. In that moment I felt a lingering thought of yesterday and the chaotic madness that had erupted. In the quiet of the morning I felt a deafening silence as for a brief moment the pendulum between yesterday and today stood still, waiting to see if I would allow yesterday to spill over into today.

Each today brings with it a remembrance of yesterday. How we address that remembrance makes the difference between what was yesterday and what will be today. Yesterday is not today and it’s up to us to see the difference. We can allow the pains and struggles of our yesterday’s to become the weights that hold us down or we can leave them in the past allowing God to provide us with wings to reach new heights today. His forgiveness covers the past of our yesterday’s and His grace gives us new hope for today.

“Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended, but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching unto those things which are before” Philippians 3:13

As you greet today remember . . . Yesterday is not today !!!

In a world that stands in such need of prayer, we often find ourselves engulfed in the overwhelming noise of busyness that we fail to step aside to pray. Throughout His life, we see time and again where Jesus stepped aside to pray.

“And in the morning, riding up a great while before day. He went out, and departed into a solitary place, and there prayed“”.” Mark 1:35

“And He withdrew Himself into the wilderness, and prayed.” Luke 5:16

“And when He had sent the multitudes away, He went up into a mountain apart to pray: and when the evening was come, He was there alone.” Matthew 14:23

“And it came to pass in those days, that He went out into a mountain to pray, and continued all night in prayer to God.” Luke 6:12

“And He was withdrawn from them about a stone’s cast, and kneeled down, and prayed.” Luke 22:41

“Then cometh Jesus with them unto a place called Gethsemane, and saith unto the disciples, Sit here, while I go and pray yonder.” Matthew 26:36

Following in His example we can see the importance He placed on stepping aside to pray. He knew that in order to be able to focus on His conversation with God, He needed to separate Himself from the noise of the world.

He rose early to seek God and He closed His day in earnest prayer with His Father pouring out His burdens before Him. He made His time with God a priority, removing Himself from all that would distract Him.

If Jesus in His perfection saw the importance of stepping aside to pray, how would we in our imperfection consider anything less as acceptable before God? How do we expect Him to hear us, when we attempt to multitask during our prayer time with Him?

Yes, there is value in talking to God as we go about the different tasks associated with our day; but somewhere in our day there needs to be time where we step aside and seek God’s face in prayer. God deserves time with us during which our heart is solely fixed on Him. When we come before Him in this manner, following the example of Jesus, then and only then can we experience the true fellowship of time spent with our Heavenly Father.

With all of the ever present noise that fills our lives it becomes increasingly difficult to find “quiet time“. Each morning’s alarm finds us with a to-do list that screams immediate attention and the chores from yesterday that did not find their way to completion thunder with an ever present reminder that time is never sufficient. Our lives are filled with noise that bombards our mind with its incessant demand to be appeased. It becomes increasingly difficult to step aside and find even the briefest of moments of quiet solitude in which to listen to the still small voice of God. All the while He is there waiting just beyond the horizon of the chaos, waiting for us to seek time with Him. It becomes a necessity for us to “demand quietness” in which to listen to Him in the stillness.

“Be still and know that I am God: I will be exalted among the heathen, I will be exalted in the Earth.” Psalm 46:10

“The whole earth is at rest, and is quiet: they break forth into singing.” Isaiah 14:7