He Has Dealt Well With Me

"You have dealt well with Your servant,
O LORD, according to Your word."
Psalm 119:65

There is a wonderful freedom that comes when we can say, "The Lord has dealt well with me."  This doesn't mean that He has given us a life without trouble or pain. I know of no Christian who can say they have lived without struggles of some sort. And the Lord Jesus Himself said, "In this life you will have trouble".  Recognizing that the Lord has dealt well with us goes far beyond our circumstances. It is a calm assurance that God is sovereign and gracious all at the same time. He never gives us more than He can handle. It is when our burdens are so great that we have nowhere else to go but to God that we begin to understand how dependable He is. And whether we come to the other side of our suffering still on this earth, or in Heaven, we can say with certainty, "Lord, You have dealt well with Your servant."

The Battle is the Lord's

"and that all this assembly may know that the LORD does not deliver by sword or by spear; for the battle is the LORD'S and He will give you into our hands." 

1 Samuel 17:47

David faced Goliath knowing  to whom the battle really belonged. The giant would not be brought down by mere swords or spears, but by the power of Jehovah. What giant are you facing today? Don't try to fight it in your own strength. God already has the defeat of your antagonist in His plans. Relinquish your control to the Lord and watch Him bring the victory. The battle belongs to Him!

Souls In Despair

"O send out Your light and Your truth, let them lead me;

         Let them bring me to Your holy hill

         And to Your dwelling places. 

    Then I will go to the altar of God,

         To God my exceeding joy;

         And upon the lyre I shall praise You, O God, my God.

Why are you in despair, O my soul?

         And why are you disturbed within me?

         Hope in God, for I shall again praise Him,

         The help of my countenance and my God." 

Psalm 43:3-5

Life is filled with struggles. They come in all sorts of shapes and sizes. When we are In the midst of a trial, we long for the reassurance that God is near; that He hears us and has not turned away. After my first husband died, I wrestled with feelings of abandonment. It seemed my prayers bounced off the ceiling and fell to the floor, unable to reach the God that I love so dearly. My soul was in despair. Pain, whether emotional or physical, can create a barrier between us and God. It is during such times that we must rely on the truth of God's word and not our feelings. Feelings come and go, but God's truth is eternal. Like a beacon it leads us through the darkness into His glorious light, where we can again praise Him. He is our exceeding joy and the One who returns peace to our hearts and minds.

When We Can't Rejoice in the Day

"This is the day which the LORD has made;

         Let us rejoice and be glad in it." 

Psalm 118:14 

The Lord has made this day. It is a gift to us from Him. If you are struggling with a life issue, today may not seem like a gift from the Lord, and it may be difficult for you to rejoice and be glad in it. If so, tell the Lord how you feel. Even though He already knows, He wants to hear it from you. There are many ways to rejoice and be glad in the day the Lord has made. One of the best ways is to express your disappointment to Him honestly. If you do, you may find that the Lord will take what began as a prayer of complaint and turn it into a prayer of rejoicing and gladness.