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"It is so hard for my soul to just be quiet; to calm down so that the peace that is prosperity can flourish in my life. I found myself saying to my soul, 'cling to God, just cling to God!'"
As quoted from the book "Victor - Breaking Free From a Victim-Based Society" by John H. Hovis Page 115.
The quote form my book today came from an experience I had as a result of reading the following verse a while ago. Before I go into what this verse means to me, let's take a look at it together now.
My soul clings to You; Your right hand upholds me. Psalm 63:8 (NASB)
Simple and to the point. Today's reading is a favorite for me. I came across this verse during a particularly difficult time. Looking back from my vantage point now, I clearly see how victim thinking made this particular time in my life so challenging.
I woke up one morning after a really bad day the day before. Bad, in this circumstance, happens to mean that I was really, really depressed. Like so many other days during this period of my life, I just couldn't see how goodness would ever be a part of my life again. Fortunately, I woke up this day with a little brighter attitude than I had the day before.
As I sat down to try and get my bearings for the day, I felt like God wanted me to read His Word. When I came across the Psalm 63 verse I stopped in my tracks. It was like a light bulb went off for me. It made such sense to me that my soul needs to cling to God. I ended up reading this verse over and over again. I go back to this verse many times now in my life.
It is when I allow my soul to cling to God that victor living is more apparent in my life. Our souls are what can either propel us toward who God sees us to be or hinder us from ever seeing our identity through His eyes.
Our will, intellect and emotions need help when it comes to trying to make identity something we can understand. If we pursue an identity based on what we do, our soul gets behind that strategy with passion and commitment. Problem is, that as the world makes it so that our actions don't always bring about what we expect, the soul gets drained and dejected. When our will, intellect and emotions are beat up by the challenging times that come at us in this world, we can easily fall into victim thinking tendencies.
When we are stuck in victim thinking, our will, intellect and emotions are driven to implement strategies to help us cope with how badly we feel. Victim thinking makes it possible for our souls to allow damaging and victim making behaviors to be a part of what we do in our world. Sooner or later the soul gets exhausted and just gives up. That's a dangerous place for a person stuck in victim thinking to find themselves.
That particular morning when God wanted me to see our reading for today was a prime example of what I described so far in my presentation. My soul was so tired those days. Coping was about all I could do and even that strategy wasn't working that well for me any more. The words, "cling to God" were like a drink of fresh water to my parched soul. As I said those words over and over again, I started to feel something that had been long missing in my life. The thought of my soul clinging to God gave me hope.
I think our souls tend to run out of steam as hope is harder and harder to see in our lives. Hope is so important for identity to really have meaning. Identity based on the hope for what this world might provide is nothing more than a fast track to being soul tired. The feeling of losing hope and victim thinking often go hand in hand.
I think the hope that seemed to re-energize my soul that day came from the promise from our reading. It says that as our soul clings to God, He upholds us with his right hand. I know I have said this before, but it is worth repeating. For most of us, our right hand is our power hand. It is the hand that is most capable of getting things done. What gave me hope is the fact that God's power hand is what is promised to be what upholds me. This was and is important to me for two reasons.
First of all, I want to be held in God's power hand because of His power. God is all powerful. He can do anything. If God is right handed, then this is the hand that has the most ability, dexterity and strength. Knowing that His best is holding me brings a sense of comfort that made hope come alive again. My tired soul loves the fact that the hand God holds me with is the hand He goes to to get done all He wants in His Kingdom.
The second reason being held by God's power hand gives me such hope has a lot do with what I just explained. If God's power hand is His right hand and if He chooses to hold me in that hand, it means that he can't use that hand to do anything else. I know this is kind of a limiting view of God but go with me on this for a second.
The fact that God might be limiting Himself in what He is able to do, by holding me is such a hope filled thought. It gives me great hope that an all powerful God would stop all He is doing to just hold me. Who am I to be given such a privilege? I'll tell you who I am - I am God's Child. So are you!
It is when we see the enormity of this amazing God stopping all His important work to just hold you and hold me that we begin to see what victor living just might look like in our lives. My soul comes alive with the fact that God cares enough to just hold me. My soul gets the energy it needs to make what God thinks about me a reality in my life in ways I could never have done all on my own.
Our soul needs to cling to God. It is in that place where the soul stops and we just be in God's presence that we find what we need to step more fully into the destiny God has prepared for us to be a part of in this world. Thing is that, this place of being held by God isn't a once and done kind of event. We need to return to this place of rest time and time again.
How do you know you need your soul to cling to God? I think it is when the overwhelm of this world makes us feel anxious and hopeless. For me, that feeling starts in the gut. Anxiety gives me an uneasiness in my core that makes my soul want to jump into coping mode. When I recognize those feelings soon enough, I stop and literally tell my soul, "Cling To God!"
Sometimes I have to say this over and over again. I say it until the unease subsides. My problems don't go away. What does go away is the feeling of being hopeless. As I sit in the palm of the power hand of God, a confidence starts to come over me that has its roots in the hope filled results of identity.
Do your best to recognize when this world is getting your soul fired up for a failed strategy. As you come to see that happening, command your soul to cling to God. Weird as that is, I know from experience that this is the beginning of something different in your life.
As your soul clings to God and as God holds you, you begin to see who you are in a way that makes the challenges you face pale by comparison. Take time today to hold on tight. God's touch is what you need. Let your soul come alive again in the reality of who you are. Let your victor status be what makes God's power be all it is to be in your life today.
My soul clings to You; Your right hand upholds me. Psalm 63:8 (NASB)
Simple and to the point. Today's reading is a favorite for me. I came across this verse during a particularly difficult time. Looking back from my vantage point now, I clearly see how victim thinking made this particular time in my life so challenging.
I woke up one morning after a really bad day the day before. Bad, in this circumstance, happens to mean that I was really, really depressed. Like so many other days during this period of my life, I just couldn't see how goodness would ever be a part of my life again. Fortunately, I woke up this day with a little brighter attitude than I had the day before.
As I sat down to try and get my bearings for the day, I felt like God wanted me to read His Word. When I came across the Psalm 63 verse I stopped in my tracks. It was like a light bulb went off for me. It made such sense to me that my soul needs to cling to God. I ended up reading this verse over and over again. I go back to this verse many times now in my life.
It is when I allow my soul to cling to God that victor living is more apparent in my life. Our souls are what can either propel us toward who God sees us to be or hinder us from ever seeing our identity through His eyes.
Our will, intellect and emotions need help when it comes to trying to make identity something we can understand. If we pursue an identity based on what we do, our soul gets behind that strategy with passion and commitment. Problem is, that as the world makes it so that our actions don't always bring about what we expect, the soul gets drained and dejected. When our will, intellect and emotions are beat up by the challenging times that come at us in this world, we can easily fall into victim thinking tendencies.
When we are stuck in victim thinking, our will, intellect and emotions are driven to implement strategies to help us cope with how badly we feel. Victim thinking makes it possible for our souls to allow damaging and victim making behaviors to be a part of what we do in our world. Sooner or later the soul gets exhausted and just gives up. That's a dangerous place for a person stuck in victim thinking to find themselves.
That particular morning when God wanted me to see our reading for today was a prime example of what I described so far in my presentation. My soul was so tired those days. Coping was about all I could do and even that strategy wasn't working that well for me any more. The words, "cling to God" were like a drink of fresh water to my parched soul. As I said those words over and over again, I started to feel something that had been long missing in my life. The thought of my soul clinging to God gave me hope.
I think our souls tend to run out of steam as hope is harder and harder to see in our lives. Hope is so important for identity to really have meaning. Identity based on the hope for what this world might provide is nothing more than a fast track to being soul tired. The feeling of losing hope and victim thinking often go hand in hand.
I think the hope that seemed to re-energize my soul that day came from the promise from our reading. It says that as our soul clings to God, He upholds us with his right hand. I know I have said this before, but it is worth repeating. For most of us, our right hand is our power hand. It is the hand that is most capable of getting things done. What gave me hope is the fact that God's power hand is what is promised to be what upholds me. This was and is important to me for two reasons.
First of all, I want to be held in God's power hand because of His power. God is all powerful. He can do anything. If God is right handed, then this is the hand that has the most ability, dexterity and strength. Knowing that His best is holding me brings a sense of comfort that made hope come alive again. My tired soul loves the fact that the hand God holds me with is the hand He goes to to get done all He wants in His Kingdom.
The second reason being held by God's power hand gives me such hope has a lot do with what I just explained. If God's power hand is His right hand and if He chooses to hold me in that hand, it means that he can't use that hand to do anything else. I know this is kind of a limiting view of God but go with me on this for a second.
The fact that God might be limiting Himself in what He is able to do, by holding me is such a hope filled thought. It gives me great hope that an all powerful God would stop all He is doing to just hold me. Who am I to be given such a privilege? I'll tell you who I am - I am God's Child. So are you!
It is when we see the enormity of this amazing God stopping all His important work to just hold you and hold me that we begin to see what victor living just might look like in our lives. My soul comes alive with the fact that God cares enough to just hold me. My soul gets the energy it needs to make what God thinks about me a reality in my life in ways I could never have done all on my own.
Our soul needs to cling to God. It is in that place where the soul stops and we just be in God's presence that we find what we need to step more fully into the destiny God has prepared for us to be a part of in this world. Thing is that, this place of being held by God isn't a once and done kind of event. We need to return to this place of rest time and time again.
How do you know you need your soul to cling to God? I think it is when the overwhelm of this world makes us feel anxious and hopeless. For me, that feeling starts in the gut. Anxiety gives me an uneasiness in my core that makes my soul want to jump into coping mode. When I recognize those feelings soon enough, I stop and literally tell my soul, "Cling To God!"
Sometimes I have to say this over and over again. I say it until the unease subsides. My problems don't go away. What does go away is the feeling of being hopeless. As I sit in the palm of the power hand of God, a confidence starts to come over me that has its roots in the hope filled results of identity.
Do your best to recognize when this world is getting your soul fired up for a failed strategy. As you come to see that happening, command your soul to cling to God. Weird as that is, I know from experience that this is the beginning of something different in your life.
As your soul clings to God and as God holds you, you begin to see who you are in a way that makes the challenges you face pale by comparison. Take time today to hold on tight. God's touch is what you need. Let your soul come alive again in the reality of who you are. Let your victor status be what makes God's power be all it is to be in your life today.
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