I feel like I should give an update to my previous therablogging post (which you can read HERE). I wrote that post late Saturday night and when I sat down to dig into the Word, I found Psalm 32, which immediately gave me a lot of comfort. My bible gives it the sub-title: The Joy of Forgiveness. It talks about the difference between the upright, who have confessed their sin and are forgiven, versus the wicked, who cannot enjoy the refreshing that comes from repentance. Here are a few snippets about the upright (who have confessed):

• Happy are those whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered
• Happy are those to whom the Lord imputes no iniquity, in in whose spirit there is no deceit
• Then, I acknowledged my sin to you, and I did not hide my iniquity; I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the Lord,” and You forgave the guilt of my sin.
• But steadfast love surrounds those who trust in the Lord

Here are a few snippets about those who have not confessed, and thus are not enjoying a right relationship with God:

• While I kept silence, my body wasted away through my groaning all day long. For day and night your hand was heavy upon me;
• my strength was dried up as by the heat of the summer
• Many are the torments of the wicked

I just love this part (the Psalmist telling us to follow his example and confess before the Lord, and to turn to the Lord with our problems):

Therefore, let all who are faithful offer prayer to you;

at a time of distress, the rush of mighty waters shall not reach them.

You are a hiding place for me; you preserve me from trouble;

you surround me with glad cries of deliverance.

I love this part too (God’s promise to us):

I will instruct you and teach you the way you should go;

I will counsel you with my eye upon you.

Then this admonition to control our tempers, which is only possible by turning to the Lord amIright?):

Do not be like a horse or mule,

without understanding,

whose temper must be curbed with a bit and bridle,

else it will not stay near you.

And the triumphant conclusion:

Be glad in the Lord and rejoice, O righteous,

and shout for joy, all you upright in heart.

 

At church recently, we heard a teaching on the Israelites and their voyage through the desert, how it is essentially the experience of every believer. Kind of like Pilgrim’s Progress, we have a series of “trials” throughout our walk (i.e. life) that are designed to teach us to rely on the Lord and strengthen our spirit (i.e. teach us to submit our mind, will, emotions, and certainly our flesh to our spirit). So brother Richard was teaching us how at the beginning of the voyage through the wilderness, the Israelites would complain and grumble when they didn’t have food or water (what I would consider to be legitimate “needs”). The Lord did not get angry with their grumbling and met their needs (in miraculous ways). But later, after God had given them the Law and the tabernacle, He expected more from them and He was angry when they complained and grumbled for water. So the sermon was about how our walk with the Lord should have progress and show growth and maturity . . . Well the following week we had a sharing meeting (where anybody can share what the Lord has been showing them) and one brother contrasted the Isrealites’ repeated complaining for lack of water with David in Psalm 63 (also in a wilderness “in a dry and weary land where there is no water”). David says:

“O God, you are my God, I seek YOU, my soul thirsts for YOU, my flesh faints for YOU, in a dry and weary land where there is no water. . . . Because Your steadfast love is better than life, my lips will praise You. . . . My soul is satisfied as with a rich feast.”

So, David is praising God and vowing to continue to praise Him,

regardless of his circumstances!

Well, that reminded me of something amazing that John Piper said. On Friday nights, when we typically have pizza (everybody brings a topping – kind of like pot luck pizza) and watch a video of a John Piper sermon with another couple from church (and anyone else who wants to join us!), we have recently been doing a brief overview of the Psalms. Piper said,  “God’s purpose in the Psalms is to wean human hearts off of security, COMFORT, fame, love of money, even ministry, and get them addicted to God.”

There is that word, comfort, that has become an idol in my heart. I think God is definitely using these “squeezing” situations in my life to do His work and accomplish His will, which certainly involves my sanctification and growing up in Him.

So, back to Saturday night, I was really loving this middle of the night bible study I was having. At 11:30 pm my phone rang and it was Derm Dad calling from upstairs. He said he had woken up and I wasn’t there so he was calling to see if I was alright. He had napped most of the day, so he wasn’t really needing to go back to sleep right away. I went up and confessed my idolatry of my own comfort and a “nice” house and a “pretty” glider, etc.  And, he’s such a wonderful husband that he immediately forgave me and we were reconciled before I went to sleep. Then, in the morning, I apologized to Adele and she immediately forgave me too. I love my family!!! I am so blessed!!! I am sure that as Adele gets older, my sinfulness will have more consequences with her (both on our relationship and also on her character), so I pray that God will have His way with me sooner rather than later.

After my time with God in the Word and my time reconciling with my family after that, my attitude was totally changed. None of my circumstances had changed at all, but I felt like it would be OK, because God already knows our needs and we need to seek Him instead of freaking out about our problems.

But back to those circumstances, I realized that part of my frustration was because our house is so disgusting, so we worked together on “Project Love Our House” which consisted of some serious cleaning. I scrubbed cabinets and walls, Kent vacuumed upstairs and downstairs, and Adele played with Everett. It really helped! The problem with an old house that needs to be painted EVERYWHERE is that it isn’t very rewarding to clean because you never get a clean “look.” It looks a little better, though. Somehow, even though it doesn’t look a whole lot better, I “feel” better about it after working so hard on it.

Stay tuned to find out what He does with our housing situation. =) I will yet praise Him!!! And we’re back to eucharisteo!!!

 

 

P.S. Here’s a little corner of our living room, recently spruced up with some guitar hangers (Adele got a mini guitar for Christmas).