Troubled Believer Part 4

Have you ever had a night where you just could not get to sleep? You know you're tired and your eyes want to close, but your mind will not stop. Or how about you fall asleep and in the middle of the night you wake up? And, sometimes for no apparent reason. Regardless, all you know is that you can't fall back to sleep.

Verse 4 of Psalm 77 says, "You hold my eyelids open; The psalmist is experiencing a sleepless night. I have experienced sleepless nights and I do exactly what the Psalmist did. I blame God. He doesn't say I hold or my circumstances hold, he says, "You hold." The situation, the circumstances, the trouble has me held captive. What I can see, hear, taste, touch or smell is more real to me than the truth of the Word. I see the lack of provision and it is more real to me than, "The Lord is my Shepherd and I shall not want." In reality I see the need as being greater than the provider. As I got up out of bed today I declared that, "This is the day the Lord has made! I will rejoice and be glad in it for the joy of the Lord is my strength!" SELAH!

This - as opposed to that. Not the next one or the last one but this one.

Is- to exist or live now. Not might be or could be or was but is currently.

The - used to express a specific thing. THE DAY!

Day - A time considered as opportune.

Again

The - expressing a specific God. It's THE GOD! Not a god or another god.

Lord - a person who has authority, control or power over a particular thing or person's.

Has - already done . Not will or wants to but it's already completed from beginning to end.

Made - produced, prepared, assured of success. WOW!

That's everything God has done! Now what do I have to do to get a piece of that?

I - Ed, me. Not someone else.

Will - am expected to or required to.

Rejoice - take delight, gladden

And- plus, included as part of the previous.

Be - occupy a place or position, continue or remain. Not think about or consider.

Glad - characterized by or showing cheerfulness, pleasure or satisfaction.

In - in possession, occupy, on the inside. Not a spectator.

It - this not that.

Now I know God's part and I know my part. The only question is regarding my part. By virtue of my writing this email God has already done His part. Now will I do mine?

This morning I said, "I am looking forward to seeing Your glory revealed today." Fifteen minutes later while driving to the prayer center the radio begins to play a song called, "Glory Revealed." Coincidence or confirmation? God's glory revealed! Just one touch of His glory and life will never be the same. The word says, "He daily loads me up with benefits." It also says, "His mercy and grace are renewed every morning." And it says, "I will mount up with wings as eagles." While all of those words are great words they do not mean that I will not face trouble or be challenged on just how strongly I believe those words. I want to be aware and thankful for the benefits, but sometimes I am distracted by my wants or what I perceive my needs to be. I need new mercy and grace everyday because I am sure that I exhaust each days supply just as people sometimes do with me. I want to sour like the eagles so that I don't have to crawl on the ground. I know! Sometimes I mayhave to crawl on the ground but you get my druft. I want each day to be different. I'm not looking for the same old same old in my journey with God. I desire for my journey to be exciting. Now I know that the excitement may scare the daylights out of me at times but..... knowing and having confidence in the guide makes all the difference in the world. A REVELATION (from God) of the RELATIONSHIP (between He and I) will produce a proper RESPONSE (for His glory).

Back to verse 4. "I am so TROUBLED that I cannot speak." There's the third troubled and this time it is troubled as in anguished. The Psalmist is perturbed. He is frustrated. He is angry. Who's the recipient of that anguish? God! I have experienced times when I was just so frustrated with a person and or a situation that I could not speak at the moment. Then there are times when I knew better than to speak at the moment. And still other times when I wished I had not spoken at the moment. I have first hand experience as to where the Psalmist is. I also know what it's like when I get tired. My patience runs thin. My tolerance for anything other than what I want is slim. I'm TIRED! And in those times everything is magnified.

Everything the Psalmist is doing just makes matters worse and that's where my experience comes from. I race around doing what I say is the God thing and physically, mentally, emotionally I am tired or better yet often exhausted. Then a situation comes and makes matters worse and I am to tired to remember the truth. Too tired to fight or even just stand. How does all this apply to today? Well it's the last day of the month and the rent for the prayer center is due. Along with that so is our mortgage payment and car payment. For the us portion we have one or the other but not both. For the prayer center we have about 2/3 rds of it. The landlord is due anytime to pick up the check. GLORY REVEALED! I have two options. I can join the Psalmist which is what I have done for the past three months or... or, I can watch and wait for God's GLORY REVEALED.