Reliance

 Wednesday, January 27, 2021 (6:42 a.m.)

Holy God,

Expectations. Disappointment. Plans. Annoyance. Highs. Lows. Hopes go up. Only to be dashed. Where do I go with my thinking Lord? To Your Word, of course.

Thank You Lord. Thank You that I get to come to You. Regardless.

Yep. We get to rely fully on You.

Father, how I thank You for the long way I get to come around to thanking and praising You.

(8:05 a.m.)

Talk about taking the long way around. Chumbawamba’s Tubthumping. ♪I get knocked down, but I get up again…♪ It seems like such a cycle. Yet here I am taking heart at The Life Recovery Bible’s comment for Proverbs 22:17-19.

“Here Solomon repeated one of his favorite themes in Proverbs: Trust in the Lord. He alone is the source of perfect love and truth. It is only by surrendering to Him that we can experience true love and discover how our life should be lived.”

Which immediately has me singing ♪Trust and Obey, for there’s no better way To be happy in Jesus, But trust and obey♪ 

Right on the heels of that, while reading The Passion Translation’s wording, I started singing ♪Jesus Christ my living hope♪ Father how I ask You to continuously remind me that You are indeed my Living Hope!

“For I’m releasing these words to you this day, yes, even to you, so that your living hope will be found in God alone, for He is the only one who is always true” (TPT).

(9:54 a.m.)

Reading and thinking of hope I turn to Psalm 42. Taking comfort in The Life Recovery Bible's devotional titled simply “Hope” I am again encouraged as I contemplate the second sentence. “We may struggle with conflicting emotions, teetering between the extremes of depression and hope.”

Isn’t that exactly how we began this morning?

The ending paragraph of this reading spells it out plainly enough. “Look how the psalmist improved his conscious contact with God. He talked to himself, commanding his emotions to ‘hope in God!’ He repeated ‘I will praise Him again,’ even though he didn’t feel like it at the time. In the dark times he sang songs, thought about God’s steadfast love, and prayed. We can do these things, too.”

Seems like the perfect time to continue Tubthumping. ♪He sings the songs that remind him of the good times He sings the songs that remind him of the better times… I get knocked down, but I get up again You’re never gonna keep me down♪

It doesn’t mean I’m pretending to be happy when I’m not. I can take every single smile on either my face, my heart or my soul as a glimpse. Another glimpse of Your goodness. As I wait to truly be agog with You again!

Thank You Father. For Your Son. Your Truth. Your promises. I love You. I need You. I want You. And I ask You, in Your Son’s most precious name to be my Reliance this day. Thank You. Praise You. Amen.

(465 words ~ 10:13 a.m.)