Relax!

Thursday, March 8, 2012 (9:14 a.m.)

Most Blessed and Amazing Father God,

You never cease to amaze me! Thank You for that. There is beauty all around me.

Friday, March 9, 2012 (7:05 a.m.)

And the amazement and beauty continues. Father, thank You that yesterday I awoke several times with the call to “Relax!” It was a word I had heard the day before in relation to my muscles.

Today, again, I am thanking You Father. You provide us such opportunity. As I explored that simple phrase in Your Word, I came to Psalm 116:7 in the Easy-to-Read Version. “My soul, relax! The Lord is caring for you.” What a profound truth! Filled with hope.

Verses one and two open this particular psalm with such an awesome fact. “I love the Lord because He hears my prayers and answers them. Because He bends down and listens, I will pray as long as I breathe!”

I spent the bulk of yesterday practicing relaxing my muscles. I took turns between exploring this psalm in various translations and reviewing dance steps I’m currently learning. Often reminding myself to “Relax!”

Father God, thank You. Thank You that because of Your provision I was able to take a day and just ‘be’. As I read Psalm 116 in its entirety several different ways, I kept coming away with the awareness of the amount of “I will” statements that are in it.

As I recognized by own inability to live up to most of them, I celebrated the reminder of my prior commitment to acknowledge each and every day of this Lenten season with another ‘I will’ truth. “I will be glad.” And I was.

And I continue to be. Thank You Father. Thank You for Your Truth. Thank You for Your Word. Thank You for Your help and Your reminders. And for just a little bit of a laugh from something I had never paid attention to before.

I grew up hearing the statement that, “God takes care of drunks and idiots.” I often wondered where it came from. I confess to giggling yesterday as I considered it as a user-friendly form of the first part of verse six. “The Lord protects the simple and the childlike”.

Father God, thank You that I believe You encourage us to enjoy spending time with You and in Your Word. Thank You that in waking this morning I equated Your call to help me learn to relax to Philippians 4:6. “Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.”

Blessed Father, truly, can we explore this verse more? Be with me as we do. I love You so very much. And I thank You. Help me as I heed Your call on my life. Amen.

(469 words ~ 7:43 a.m.)