Psalm 31

I just needed to re-read this tonight... I think my Bible just flips open to this Psalm, I've read it so much...

Psalm 31-A David Psalm (The Message)

 ^1-2I run to You, God; I run for dear life. Don't let me down! 
      Take me seriously this time! 
   Get down on my level and listen, 
      and please—no procrastination! 
   Your granite cave a hiding place, 
      Your high cliff aerie a place of safety. 

 ^3-5 You're my cave to hide in, 
      my cliff to climb. 
   Be my safe leader, 
      be my true mountain guide. 
   Free me from hidden traps; 
      I want to hide in You. 
   I've put my life in Your hands. 
      You won't drop me, 
      You'll never let me down. 

 ^6-13 I hate all this silly religion, 
      but You, God, I trust. 
   I'm leaping and singing in the circle of Your love; 
      You saw my pain, 
      You disarmed my tormentors, 
   You didn't leave me in their clutches 
      but gave me room to breathe. 
   Be kind to me, God— 
      I'm in deep, deep trouble again. 
   I've cried my eyes out; 
      I feel hollow inside. 
   My life leaks away, groan by groan; 
      my years fade out in sighs. 
   My troubles have worn me out, 
      turned my bones to powder. 
   To my enemies I'm a monster; 
      I'm ridiculed by the neighbors. 
   My friends are horrified; 
      they cross the street to avoid me. 
   They want to blot me from memory, 
      forget me like a corpse in a grave, 
      discard me like a broken dish in the trash. 
   The street-talk gossip has me 
      "criminally insane"! 
   Behind locked doors they plot 
      how to ruin me for good. 

 ^14-18 Desperate, I throw myself on You: 
      You are my God! 
   Hour by hour I place my days in Your hand, 
      safe from the hands out to get me. 
   Warm me, Your servant, with a smile; 
      save me because You love me. 
   Don't embarrass me by not showing up;
      I've given You plenty of notice. 
   Embarrass the wicked, stand them up, 
      leave them stupidly shaking their heads 
      as they drift down to hell. 
   Gag those loudmouthed liars 
      who heckle me, Your follower, 
      with jeers and catcalls. 

 ^19-22 What a stack of blessing You have piled up 
      for those who worship You, 
   Ready and waiting for all who run to You 
      to escape an unkind world. 
   You hide them safely away 
      from the opposition. 
   As You slam the door on those oily, mocking faces, 
      You silence the poisonous gossip. 
   Blessed God! 
      His love is the wonder of the world. 
   Trapped by a siege, I panicked. 
      "Out of sight, out of mind," I said. 
   But You heard me say it, 
      You heard and listened. 

 ²³ Love God, all You saints; 
      God takes care of all who stay close to Him, 
   But he pays back in full 
      those arrogant enough to go it alone. 

 ²⁴ Be brave. Be strong. Don't give up. 
      Expect God to get here soon.

God's Will

How do you know when you're following the will of God? One of the ways is when He confirmed things through "circumstances." Or more like incredible God-moments that just could not have been planned any better.

These last two weeks have been full of such God-moments; let me share a few with you...

Last Tuesday, I was standing in the hall outside my Anatomy & Physiology classroom waiting for class and randomly looking at the bulletin board on the wall. On the section advertising summer internships for students in the biology field there was a brochure for Mercy Ships!

Three weeks ago, the first day of Anatomy & Physiology lab, my TA asked each of us to introduce ourselves, share our career goals and say what we were doing for the summer. I said I was going to West Africa to work on a hospital ship this summer and my TA asked if it was with Mercy Ships! She has never been to the Africa Mercy but has supported several crew members over the years.

When I mentioned that I wanted to be a physical therapist at a missionary hospital in Nigeria, the guy sitting next to me (who is now one of my lab partners) asked if it was the Evangel hospital in Jos on the SIM missions compound! His family served with SIM for several years in Nigeria and he grew up there!

This past weekend at the Renewal conference for the South Central regional Navigators I was talking with one of the staff guys that serves here at A&M. We were again talking about summer plans and I was attempting to convince him that I could not do a Navigator-sponsored summer program; I already had firm plans. :-) I said I was working with Mercy Ships and he asked if I knew a girl named Allison Green who is working in the OR on board! One of my friends back home told me about her last year and I've Facebooked with Allison a little since then. Small world!

And then I've started to find checks in my mailbox... God is confirming, God is providing, God is leading... to Togo!

self-worth...

In my sport psychology book we've been studying self-concept as it relates to high risk sports and sensation-seeking athletes. I came across this quote in the middle of the chapter on self theory and found it thought provoking.

"After a while you learn the subtle difference between holding a hand and chaining a soul.

And you learn that love doesn't mean leaning and company doesn't mean security.

And you begin to learn that kisses aren't contracts and presents aren't promises.

And you begin to accept your defeats with your head up and your eyes open, with the grace of an adult not the grief of a child.

And you learn to build all your roads on today because tomorrow's ground is too uncertain for plans.

After a while you learn that even sunshine burns if you get too much.

So plant your own garden and decorate your own soul instead of waiting for someone to bring you flowers.

And you learn that you really can endure... that you really are strong,

And you really do have worth."

-Anonymous

Wow... that is sad. It's pretty defeatist. It's kind of like, I can't rely on anyone else to be there or think of me, so I must take care of myself first.

I choose to believe something else. That I may get hurt along the way and that people will let me me down without meaning to. But that God shows love, brings security, speaks promises, gives grace in defeat, is in control of tomorrow's plans, sends sunshine, brings me flowers, and I have worth because of who made me!