Friday, November 7, 2008

God's Evidence

Blessed be the Lord,
who daily bears us up;
God is our salvation.


Psalm 68:19

There’s nothing like good, long time friends. Those friends who have known you for years and while months may go by the minute you hear their voice you’re off in vibrant conversation. Talk flows smoothly and readily. The immeasurable value of these friends is the ability to remind you, by their presence in your life, of who you were, where you have been and where you’re standing today. They are God’s evidence.

The psalms are perfect guidelines for prayer. They give us permission to rant, to bless, to praise, to be depressed, to curse, to glorify, to thank. And, they always bring us back to Who.

Even when we’re in the middle of the muck we usually don’t forget God. No, in fact more than likely he is very much in the center of our thinking—either for blame, doubting or hopefully, if we are able to embrace the moment, praising. But, as the psalms illustrate, he’s strong enough to take it all. Whether we acknowledge it or not, every day we are given is an opportunity for God to carry us to where he eventually wants us to be.

Back to those valued friends. If we allow them, they bear God’s evidence that we have been carried forward through whatever storms have slammed us. Acknowledging who we were and who we are now, they are God’s evidence that he provides what is needed in order to daily bear us up.


Generous God, thank you for friends.
It is through friends that I can
see you never forget me.
Their encouragement, their support
is your evidence that you daily
bear me up.
You are my salvation.
Amen.


Artwork--Ruth and Naomi, Phillip Ratner, 1998. The Safad Bible, Israel Bible Museum.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

I was struck anew wth the invaluable gift friendships are in our lives. No doubt they are the relationships that prompt our positive actions like no other. I was particularly reminded that "every day we are given is an opportunity for God to carry us to where he eventually wants us to be." That's worth a memory committal.