Today I need a reminder of how big and great God is. The weekend was less than what I hoped for. Sundays are nine times out of ten, not great for me. And this morning picked up where Sunday had left off.
As I sat and did my homework for David: Seeking a Heart Like His, by Beth Moore, I was reminded that I need to remember who God is. I forget. As the old hymn says, my heart, it’s prone to wander from the God I love. I get so caught up problems and circumstances and other distractions. So as I sat and read Psalm 8:1-4 for my homework this morning, a little voice whispered, You need to remember. It’s been a theme throughout the last couple of studies. Remembering what God has done in the past helps you move with faith into the future. I’m at the point where I want and need to move into the future. I’m tired of the rut.
Psalm 8:1-4 AMP
1 O Lord, our Lord, how excellent (majestic and glorious) is Your name in all the earth! You have set Your glory on [or above] the heavens.
2 Out of the mouths of babes and unweaned infants You have established strength because of Your foes, that You might silence the enemy and the avenger.
3 When I view and consider Your heavens, the work of Your fingers, the moon and the stars, which You have ordained and established,
4 What is man that You are mindful of him, and the son of [earthborn] man that You care for him?
This psalm, it’s a good jumping off place to remember who God is and what he has done for us.
Who God Is
I admit it, I regularly try and stuff God into a box. I think I know him. I try and boss him around because hey, I have first born tendencies and I know I’m right, right? And then I read a passage like 2 Samuel 22:4-17 which talks about a God who will not only bust open that box that I tried to squeeze him into but burn it up as well. (Seriously it’s a good passage, look it up!) This is a God who breathes fire, shoots arrows and thunders and rides down from heaven to rescue me because I called to him. It’s better than any fantasy novel I’ve read because it’s truth. The idea of a puny God just got blown to bits.
God is also a God who is gentle, kind and loving. He deals with our stuff and if we let him, he does it gently. Jesus at the well with the Samaritan woman. She was his enemy, his inferior in race, gender and purity. Yet he took the time to see her. He saw her as a person in need of some grace. He dealt with her stuff with grace and love. He gave her back her dignity. This is who God is.
What He’s done for us
He sent his Son to take our place so we could go be with Him in heaven. That alone should do it. But my memory is short. I take for granted. I shake my head at the Israelites and wonder “How did they forget that he parted the seas to let them cross and crushed their enemies? And on top of that, their enemies gave them loot before they left, a lot of it?” But really, I am just as bad as they were. I forget what God has done for me. I forget way too easily; that time when I was eight months pregnant and I was driving to the store and a guy went through the red light. I saw it coming and was safe. The way he has taken hurts and wounds and brought good out of them. How he has seen me through many moves and changes when what I really wanted to was to stay in one spot. He has been the pillar of cloud who moved before me in day and the pillar of fire to light the way at night. (Ex 13:21)
Today I needed to remind myself of the God I serve and love. What about you? Do you need a fresh take on the day, the week, maybe the year? Go ahead, remember.