Read Psalm 7. A couple times. It's short.
Our older daughters are in an English
program that is rigorous, (read excruciating) at times. Mostly for me
and the younger of the two. She is the absolute youngest in the
class, and has struggled to complete the work. And me right along
with her. She needs my help. And a lot of it. She gets frustrated
easily, because it is not easy, and me right along with her. She is a
perfectionist. Learning is often hard for her because she does not
accept that something should be hard before you learn it. Chew on
that for a minute. But then, for her paper this week, there was a
break through. She was doing more and more on her own. And it was
wonderful. She even set her alarm to get up early this morning to put
on the finishing touches. It wasn't perfect. But it was done. And she
was so proud of her alliterations, and countless other decorations
she added with much less frustration. And I saw that light at the end
of the tunnel. And relaxed. It has to be hard. It has to be a
struggle. Or else it wouldn't be learning, it would be learned
already. And here I am, in the same struggle. I have been reading in Samuel, but not writing. That part is hard, and this week hit
me like a ton of bricks. Too many unplanned struggles and me trying
to keep my head above water did not include trying to formulate words
in a way that made sense to the casual observer. I couldn't possibly.
Could I?
One huge benefit I have noticed from writing this blog is that that lessons I am reading from God's word are really impacting my life. Normally I read, and I meditate on those words, and then I forget. But something about this exercise of writing it all out having to really think it through has changed me. Yet for some reason, I don't want to do it. It's a lot of work. It's a struggle. Until I break through for a minute and feel the blessings of what was learned. Then it isn't a struggle. For that brief moment or isolated moments to follow when those lessons are worked out in living color, I reap the rewards, until the struggle begins again.
God gives us so many real life physical
examples of our spiritual reality. Eating right and exercising well
are a struggle. The whole point of exercising is to struggle. If you
are not sweating, or exhausting your muscle, then likely you aren't
getting anywhere. Eating is easy, but eating healthy requires denying
your wants and your desires for your goals. And that is a struggle.
I Timothy 4:8 For bodily exercise
profits a little, but godliness is profitable for all things, having
promise of the life that now is and of that which is to come.
I have referenced before the baby sea
turtle, struggling to get to the water. Yes he is struggling, but
don't pity him. It is strength that he is building in the struggle,
muscles that he will need for later.
Here in Psalm 7, David continues to
struggle. He feels betrayed, falsely accused. Have you ever been
there? I have. My stomach still turns at the thought of it. I want to
respond how David responds. In prayer to God.
Save me from all those who persecute me;
And deliver me,
2 Lest they tear me like a lion,
Rending me in pieces, while there is none to deliver.
He continues pouring His heart out before God. You know. You see. You
are just. And that has to be enough.
David finishes this Psalm as he so often does... in praise.
And will sing praise to the name of the Lord Most High.
Don't be surprised by the struggle. It has to be. But as we see God
come through, time and time again, I pray that we would be
strengthened through the struggle and that we would comfort others as
we have been comforted as we praise God, putting our trust in Him.
John 16:33 These things I have spoken to you that in Me you may
find peace, In this world you will have tribulations, but be of good
cheer I have overcome the world.
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