September 12, 2010

A Promise For Life

Psalm 55.22

I Peter 5.7

My family in Florida was in shock at the death of Christopher. Two weeks ago this morning, in my cousin, Lori's home, I got up early before we were to leave for church and was reading my Bible and journaling. The day before I was on a Southwest Airline flight out of MacArthur. I had been reading Psalm 50-70 while I waited. These are some of David's psalms of difficulty written while Saul was pursuing him and trying it take his life. I encourage people to read these psalms while going through deep grief. I discovered how much they can help from my own experience.

Suddenly Psalm 55.22 jumped out and grabbed my heart there in MacArthur Airport. That is the verse for my family I thought. I took my journal out the next day, on that Sunday morning and wrote down the verse, "Cast all your cares on the LORD and He will sustain you." I had no sooner written it than Lori my cousin, came out and greeted me with a "Good morning". She picked up what had been our Nana's (Rose Biggs) old Promise Box, full of scriptures, Nana had based her life upon.

Then my cousin Lori began to tell me a story about it.

She showed me how she had one card sticking out of it. She said that during a very difficult night in her life, she could not sleep, so she got up to clean. She was dusting and she accidentally knocked Nana's Promise box off. It fell on the floor and one card flew out. She showed it to me. It was Psalm 55.22 and I Peter 5.7. I showed my journal in which I had just written out Psalm 55.22 and how the day before as I began my trek to Florida the LORD had given this to me for my family there. And suddenly we realized we in the Presence of God. We prayed, thanking God for the wonderful gift of our heritage. Our Nana had gone to heaven 22 years ago but the influence of her life lived on and the LORD was showing us that and that those promises were as true today as the day He gave them and the day our Nana read them and the night that card popped out. Our God is an Awesome God.

There are times when we find life's situations to be unbearable. I think of Tiffany, Christopher's fiance. Wedding Invitations all sent out and now he is gone and what was to be three weeks of wonderful expectation has become difficult beyond description. Horatio Spafford and Joseph Scriven knew about this. They wrote, It is Well With My Soul and What a Friend We Have in Jesus. Scriven's fiance drowned the night before they were to be married.

God's people turn to God's Word when faced with the times in life where they have more than they can bear. During times of terror and shock, unspeakable pain and loss, the Word of God stands!

1. The LORD Cares For You I Peter 5.7

God Almighty, the Maker of Heaven and Earth cares about you and all the things you carry on your heart, the things you are perplexed over. Life can bring us into places where there are no answers, where we have to fall back on the fact the LORD loves us and cares about us.

Matthew 6.25-34

2. The LORD Calls Us To Cast Our Burdens On Him. Psalm 55.22

Hurl, fling, throw your burden, your lot on Him.

Why do we continue to mentally carry them?

1- Hard to let go.

2- Lack of faith in His ability

3- Fear

4- Pride- trying to reason- leaning on our own understanding

5- We have become used to carrying them- pheasants for sale- man bought them and said untie them and let them go. He cut the ropes and the poor birds just kept running around in circles as if the ropes were still around their necks.

3. The LORD Sustains his People. Psalm 55.22b

He holds our hand Psalm 37

He holds us up Psalm 16.8

He nourishes us with His Word. Deuteronomy 8.3

He supplies our needs Philippians 4.19 What a supply! Glorious, Endless, Heavenly

On the bottom of that promise card

in my Nana's box were these words:

And shall I still the load retain,

Which Thou hast offered to sustain?

No! At Thy bidding I will flee

And cast my burdens all on Thee.