Where Are You Focused?

“I remember my affliction and my wandering, the bitterness and the gall. I well remember them, and my soul is downcast within me. Yet this I call to mind and therefore I have hope:  Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassion never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. I say to myself, “The Lord is my portion; therefore I will wait for him.” -Lamentations 3:19-24

This morning when I was getting ready for the day, a short passage of scripture came to mind. It was a passage that I had memorized many years ago.  Lamentations 3:22-24  “Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassion never fail.  They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. I say to myself, “The Lord is my portion; therefore I will wait for him.”  For me these three short verses have always been a gift of great hope.I am very thankful for his love and compassion that is new every morning for many reasons.  Probably the biggest reason is that I would have a tendency to use up His love and compassion very quickly if they were not renewed often.  I’m thankful that I have this assurance that I can’t use up His commitment to me.  My mind continued to wonder through the scriptures as I remembered a mentor of mine in college pointing out that the Lord watched over His people as they slept. Psalm 3: 5-6 gives us this promise: “I lie down and sleep; I wake again, because the Lord sustains me. I will not fear though tens of thousands assail me on every side.” Tens of thousands on every side….We are, and may continue to be for some time, in a season where many of us are feeling like there are tens of thousands coming against us.  Let me remind you before we go on, that our battles are not against flesh and blood, but against powers and principalities in the spiritual realm. (Ephesians 6)   Scrolling through every realm of social media we find evidence that our world is overwhelmed with feelings of dread, fear, abandonment, uncertainty. This blog is not to add to that feeling of dread or to be a reminder of the state of the world in the first half of 2020. The goal of pointing out where we are in the natural world, is to place along side of the dread this world has to offer, the hope we have in our God who is for us and not against us.  In a world where we are facing the worry of physical/medical  hardship, financial uncertainty, political blaming and fighting, racial challenges, and of all things killer hornets (which seem to have fallen by the wayside), in that world we need a reminder of the Hope we have in Christ.  Hope that our God is for us, not against us.  Hope that He is committed to us now more than ever.  Hope that He has not abandoned us or left us to figure out this world on our own.In a time where we may have taken our eyes off our faith and off our God, we are reminded through the scriptures to ask the question with the Psalmist, “I lift up my eyes to the mountains—where does my help come from? And then rejoice in the answer; “My help comes from the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth.”  Psalm 121:1-2. Our help has and always will continue to come from the Lord, the maker of heaven and earth – why?  Because His compassion and love are new every morning. He doesn’t get burdened by the news reports on TV.  He isn’t worried about viruses. He knows His resources to take care of His children are limitless. He is for us, not against us, and he wants us to lift UP our eyes as we look to His compassion and love, new every morning.  It’s my prayer that you will find rest during the day and night as you lift up your eyes and trust Him.“ I lift up my eyes to the mountains—where does my help come from?  My help comes from the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth. He will not let your foot slip— he who watches over you will not slumber; indeed, he who watches over Israel will neither slumber nor sleep. The Lord watches over you—the Lord is your shade at your right hand; the sun will not harm you by day, nor the moon by night.  The Lord will keep you from all harm— he will watch over your life;  the Lord will watch over your coming and going both now and forevermore.” Psalm 121