Scrolling through social media the other day I saw this quote from Lauren Fortenberry: “And her faith filled her with wisdom. She fought her battles with prayer and praise. She surrendered her stress to God’s strength.”
These words challenged me to consider how my devotional life may not be as aligned to this way of being. I want these words to be true of me, true of my days, true of my faith! These words are more accurate about my life when I am consistent in my pursuit of knowing more and building daily on my relationship with the Lord. It is so much easier to surrender to His love and stand on His promises when life is running smoothly, and the journey has a softer season. But what happens when life gets bumpy and harder times distract me from my faithfulness of study and prayer? I am sure we all have an answer to that question, and it never ends with a smile.
Being an imperfect being, who sometimes has more ADHD than I want to admit, I need lots of “checklists” to keep me motivated and moving in the right direction. I need to stay on my P’s – Prayer, Priorities, Peace, Positivity, and Patience. So, with those words running quietly in the back of my mind, I began reading a daily devotional book that I return to repeatedly. The book, Semper Fidelis (Always Faithful) frames daily readings of five Psalms and a chapter from Proverbs. The richness of God and the depth of how He holds space for us in love and offers wisdom for our daily living always come boldly to me when I use this book for my quiet time with the Lord. I highly recommend it!
I love the book of Psalms. It is a powerful place to meet God, learn deeply about Him and understand how He reaches out to us. When I came to Chapter 86 in my reading the fifth verse stood out to me in bold relief. “O Lord, you are so good, so ready to forgive, so full of unfailing love for all who ask for your help.”
My mind pulled the earlier quote forward and aligned it with the astonishing truth of who the Lord is and how He is always available to me as this Psalm teaches us. For my faith to fill me with wisdom and my battles to be won, I must surrender to His love each day.
My surrender requires actions: trusting in the strength beyond my understanding, asking or wisdom, offering more praise and prayer and allowing God’s strength to cover the daily stresses that try to keep me from staying focused on my P’s!
I am challenging myself to faithfully read from the book of Psalm and allow the Lord to help me keep my P’s in bold relief each day. Won’t you join me?
