Friday

Psalm 118:10-21

They surrounded me on every side,
but in the name of the LORD I cut them off.
They swarmed around me like bees,
but they died out as quickly as burning thorns;
in the name of the LORD I cut them off.
I was pushed back and about to fall,
but the LORD helped me.
The LORD is my strength and my song;
he has become my salvation.
Shouts of joy and victory
resound in the tents of the righteous:
"The LORD's right hand has done mighty things!
The LORD's right hand is lifted high;
the LORD's right hand has done mighty things!"
I will not die but live,
and will proclaim what the LORD has done.
The LORD has chastened me severely,
but he has not given me over to death.
Open for me the gates of righteousness;
I will enter and give thanks to the LORD.
This is the gate of the LORD
through which the righteous may enter.
I will give you thanks, for you answered me;
you have become my salvation.

I think we have all experienced extreme moments, seemingly hopeless and overpowering situations in which we feel ourselves stretche to our utter limit and about to fall. Perhaps some of us feel that way right now.

Such experiences are frightening, painful and difficult, but they are necessary and useful elements of the Christian journey, providing us with unique opportunities to recognize and appreciate the inadequacy of our own resources and perceptions and to discover (or rediscover) the unimaginably profound dimensions of the life that God, at all times and in all places, is ready to give to us.

Only when we are willing to release control and ownership of our lives back to Him, can His resources and perceptions become a living and life-saving reality in us. The full significance and power of faith can only be realized in the context of genuine challenge, and though He opens the gate for us, it is up to us to walk through. Only then can His strength become our strength, and His song become our song.

Just as an eagle soaring high in the sky does not concern itself with bridges to cross, so too can we shout for joy in a world plagued with misery and fear.

RM