Wednesday, February 3, 2021

Smack Dab in the Middle

I'm trying to re-focus.  2021 started with such promise and high hopes.  And then, well, here we are.  Frustration, Uncertainty, False allegations, Discouragement.  I was thinking tonight about the movie, "Facing the Giants," in which a coach was trying to turn around a beleaguered football team.  He told the team that although they wanted to win, they would Give their very best and "Praise God if they won, and Praise Him if they lost."

The Bible is full of stories of great men and women who trusted Him through it all.  They walked by faith and not by sight.  In fact, a preacher of a church we were members of when we lived in Houston once said that "Faith is confident obedience in the Word of God regardless of circumstance or consequence."

I opened my Bible tonight and immediately thought of growing up in church.  I can remember that we had "sword drills" in which the teacher called out a Scripture verse and the first person to find it would stand up and read it.  We were sitting in metal chairs and there was quite a racket of chairs scraping across the floor as students located the passage and jumped out of their chairs to read.  Bibles that had the Books marked were not allowed!  It really taught us where the books of the Bible were located.

We quickly learned that the Book of Psalms was in the middle of the Bible.  Tonight I turned to Psalm 118.  I have written something in the margin of the passage that you can see below:

I was told (I have no way to prove or disprove this) that if you took all the books and chapters of the Bible and numbered the verses from Genesis 1:1 all the way to Revelation 22:21, the very center of the Bible is Psalm 118:8 which says:

It is better to take refuge in the LORD 
Than to trust in man.

What a good bit of wisdom.  It makes you focus on the fact that regardless your circumstance, God is your refuge, your protector, your rock, your salvation, your provider.  NOT Man.

God is in charge - not the man who resides in the White House.
God is your source - not the man who signs your paycheck.
God is your healer - not the man in the white coat administering medicine.
God is your protector - not the man in military fatigues or in law enforcement or not the firearm in your bedside drawer.

Psalm 118:8 is a good "central" truth to dwell on when you are in the middle of a tough spot.


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