Day 29: Blessings Come in Many Forms...

“My cup brims with blessing…”

Psalm 23

I do not know the answer to most of the questions people often ask me. I do not know why bad things happen to good people. I have only a rudimentary understanding of why the Old Testament has a lot of fighting stories in a timeline that promises the coming of the Prince of Peace. But I believe that spiritually awake people can relate to Psalm 23, when David says, “My cup brims with blessing…” The scriptures describe blessings in various ways, including: we were once in darkness, and now we are children of the light. Once we were lost, and now we are found. Once we were separated from God, and now we live in communion with Him. What a bunch of blessings! What else does it mean and how does this apply to our lives?

Is a blessing getting our way, getting what we “want,” sitting on a balcony at a beach, or running on a trail through farmland at Virginia Tech? Is a blessing browsing through a great music store and then finding the perfect afternoon snack on The Corner at UVA? Is a blessing found in a good book, a cup of hot chocolate, a cozy fire, and an overstuffed chair? Is it a blessing spending the weekend with great friends and beating your husband at bridge? Is it kayaking? Is it that beautiful moment when your children are all fully engaged in a conversation that has everyone in stitches? All these things I love; are they my blessings?

“My cup brims with blessing…” Is a traumatic life event in childhood a blessing? Is having your boyfriend break up with you—after finding a replacement—a blessing? Is an eating disorder a blessing? Is having someone you love suffer from the horrors of addiction a blessing? Is financial loss a blessing? Is chronic illness a blessing? I have completely lost my ability to label life events in the “seen” world as “blessing” or “curse.” Some of my greatest hurts have turned out to be my all-time greatest blessings. And although I enjoy sitting and running and browsing and snacking and reading and great friends and winning and kayaking and laughing—and feel incredibly blessed to have these precious things in my life—I am not so sure that some of the things I’ve cursed in life aren’t also blessings. I think David is reminding us of this truth when he weaves us through green pastures, quiet waters, paths of righteousness, valleys of the shadow of death, evil, comfort, dinner with our enemies, and the hospitality of head anointing. David believes. David believes that a plan in the unseen world often leads to strange and mysterious twists and turns in the “seen” world. May God give you a delight in the roller-coaster ride of life; may He equip you with “God-vision goggles” so that you have a vision for more than what can merely be seen. May He give you peace in the process and the courage and stamina necessary to be the Prince or Princess Warrior that He has created you to become, so that you can carry that message of hope - especially in this seemingly hard-to-find-hope times.

Day 37: Remembering God's Promises

What if a frantic and desperate David, running for his life, panted out these words as prayer?

The Lord is my shepherd (God has always been there for me; He still is.)

I shall not be in want. (He provided when I was taking care of the sheep; He provided when I went up against Goliath. He provided for me the last time Saul freaked out. He’ll provide now.)

He makes me lie down in green pastures, He leads me beside quiet waters. He restores my soul. (I’ve been in bad fixes before, and God has always provided. I must trust in Him.)

Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, (which I am definitely doing right this minute),

I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me. (Remembering these truths, David’s heart rate begins to settle to a nice, manageable thump. His ability to think clearly returns. He must keep running, because evil is in pursuit, but he is no longer overcome. The epic adventure has begun.)

I confess. I don’t know at what point in David’s life he wrote this psalm. But what I do know, and what you know, is where we are in our own lives. I hope you’re in a happy space. But if you’re not, then what about this idea? What if, in preparation for Advent, like the men and women of the old days, we take time to use this Psalm to find our own reality? What if you found your own truthful and personal way to do as David might have done? Using this Psalm, remember. Remember who God is, what he has promised. Remember that we are clay. Speak the truths of these words to God and see how the Good Shepherd leads you! Because, my friend, you’ve got places to go, people to meet, and words of hope and encouragement to share - all appropriately socially distanced of course!

Day 38: Psalm 23 Through the Lens of Suffering

During Advent in the year 2020, I wonder if Psalm 23 might have more to offer us if we read it through the lens of suffering. I have sometimes assumed that David penned this poem while lounging around green meadows, beside quiet waters. Now I am not so sure. I wonder if David could have written this in the heat of passionate pursuit. David had a pretty interesting life—rich with danger and full of opportunities for fear. On several occasions David, a humble shepherd boy, rescued his sheep from lions. In his job as shepherd, he killed the enemy with the instruments of every shepherd: his hands, a rod and staff, and a slingshot. Once David killed a giant by the name of Goliath who had taunted grown men and caused them to run in fear. David became a friend of King Saul, only to have Saul lose all his marbles and become jealous and paranoid of David. Numerous times in the course of David’s life, his enemies chased him hither and yon relentlessly. Later in life, his own son turned against him.

What if David wrote this psalm passionately? What if he yelled it out in an act of blind obedience while he was in the midst of a hot pursuit—chased by evil? What if he was desperately recalling truth in the midst of the adrenalin rush of fear that inevitably arises when one is under attack?

Read this:

“Saul sent men to David’s house to watch it and to kill him in the morning. But Michal, David’s wife, warned him, ‘If you don’t run for your life tonight, tomorrow you’ll be killed.’ So Michal let David down through a window, and he fled and escaped.”

1 Samuel 19:11-12 NIV

Picture this: David shimmies down the side of his house, drops to the ground, and runs for his life. He’s being chased by the order of the king! His chance of escape is slim. David realizes this as he runs through fields; he recalls that he left all his weapons tossed carelessly beside the front door of his house. He wishes he had eaten a more hearty evening meal, because he doesn’t know where his next nourishment will come from. The more he runs, the more he thinks. The more he thinks, the more he fears. Suppose he decides that his fear is getting to be too big to deal with, and he begins to reel his racing thoughts back a bit. Suppose he says to himself, “Whoa, Dave. You’re forgetting some really important truths here. Think man, think. You know better than this.”

And thus he begins… Tomorrow, we will consider where this kind of thinking under great duress might have led David and could guide us as we wind down one wild and weird year of madness and mayhem.

Day 39: A Time For Soul Restoration

We have begun the 40 day countdown, waiting to celebrate the birth of Jesus. Why bother? Is this actually what most of us wait for these days? As people of faith, or faith curious, maybe it helps to be reminded of the God of our understanding as a way to help us grapple with why we are willing to wait year after year, for the baby Jesus to come and save us.

David, an old testament character is famously remembered as the guy with a heart that longed for God. And other stuff too. He felled a Giant. He became a King. He got in big trouble one summer when he stayed home and had an affair rather than going to war as kings traditionally do. He committed murder to hide his crime in the way politicians handle such things. His kids were a mess. And yet, his heart longed for God.

David expresses his commitment to faith over fear when he cries, “I will fear no evil, for you are with me…” in Psalm 23. I wonder if this was a cry of calm assurance. Is this a poetic utterance penned while David lounged one day in a green pasture beside still water? Filled to the brim with a restored soul, did David wax eloquently about his confidence in the presence of God and boldly claim His power over evil as a servant of the King of Kings?

Often when I sneak away for an extended break at the beach or in the mountains, my spirit soars as I spend quality time with God, eat good food, sleep whenever I’m in the mood, and play hard. It’s easy to be a spiritual giant in the seclusion of a good vacation with no responsibilities looming on the horizon. It’s my prayer that each of us regularly sets aside time for green pastures, quiet waters, and soul restoration. I trust these times will give us courage, vision, and a renewed strength to be exactly who God sees when He dreams about us.

I suspect that on days like this, all of us cry out, “I’m with you, God! I am not afraid! I can do anything you set before me! I can and will do your good, pleasing, and perfect will.” Perhaps this is exactly how David felt when he wrote this psalm, but perhaps not.

What if the context of this story is far different and more consistent with the year 2020 than an extended vacation at a fancy resort? Stay tuned.