In the past, Father, I have known people have “lived” in the Psalms. For the most part, I have never really latched on to them but recently they seem to be speaking to me more. I am grateful that we quite often will open our times of worship with them. Here is a good one to ponder.
Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good; For His lovingkindness (graciousness, mercy, compassion) endures forever. Psalm 136:1 (AMP)
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We very much enjoy the beauty of flowers around our home. Not all of our flowers need extra care but some do. For the most part perennials (ones that come back year after year) fend for themselves pretty well, and we have several areas of those. But we also love the color and variety of annuals (ones that only last a season).
Annuals are more needy for sure. By their very nature, they are fragile. It really helps if the soil in which they are planted has some extra fertilizers to give them a boost for growth. (We’ve had good success with worm castings.) We also have to be mindful of keeping them well watered. And they must have good drainage if planted in planters.
I must admit that I am an annual. For that matter, we all are annuals. We are needy and fragile, requiring a great deal of attention from our Caregiver. Our Father extends to us the time and devotion that will cause us to grow and flourish.
Quite often the difficulties we go through in life can feel pretty stinky at the time but they can “fertilize” us as nothing else can. And of course, in John 4:14 (AMP) it is recorded that Jesus Himself tells us,
“But whoever drinks the water that I give him will never be thirsty again. But the water that I give him will become in him a spring of water [satisfying his thirst for God] welling up [continually flowing, bubbling within him] to eternal life.”
We only doom ourselves when we refuse to let God attend to our needs. We are incapable of benefiting from the “fertilizer” that comes our way without His help. We have no means of watering ourselves – only He can do that. But…even when we spend years avoiding His loving care because of His resurrection power, though we are dead in our trespasses and sins, He is able to bring us back to life!
Lord Jesus, may we gratefully yield ourselves to You, the Great Caregiver. You know what is best and absolutely no one can tend to our needs for our greatest benefit, other than You. May we grow and flourish as a means of proclaiming Your active work in our lives. Amen.
June 9th, 2019, 8:39 pm
