WATCHWORD:
7 I will bless the Lord who guides me; even at night my heart instructs me. 8 I know the Lord is always with me. I will not be shaken, for he is right beside me.9 No wonder my heart is glad, and I rejoice. My body rests in safety. 10 For you will not leave my soul among the dead or allow your holy one to rot in the grave. 11 You will show me the way of life, granting me the joy of your presence and the pleasures of living with you forever. Psalm 16:7-11
Meditation:
Gotta Breathe
Indeed, we must all breathe in order to sustain life. That is an immutable fact that has been hammered home in my life, first with my wife who passed away from lung disease, and more recently my own situation which is a breathing problem caused by heart-lung interaction.
I deal with the inconvenience of my problem with medication, by limiting my own exertion, and by always carrying my rescue inhaler. There are times when it gets a little more serious, and I have no choice but to stop everything and concentrate on breathing, often with a silent prayer of ‘Help me, Lord.’
However, the reality is that we all have those times in the course of a busy day when we have to pause, maybe catch our breath or reorganize our activities in order to move on to the next task. Then I would guess that there would be times when ‘Help me, Jesus’ goes through your mind when you try to juggle too much, even of good things.
David the psalmist expressed this thought in Psalm 16:5-6 when he declared, Lord, you alone are my portion and my cup; you make my lot secure. The boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places; surely I have a delightful inheritance. Then he proceeds to describe joy, a lightness in his step when he says in v.9, No wonder my heart is glad, and I rejoice.
That joy is available to us, as well, throug our surrender to Him. In fact, for you and I, children of God, all the joy we need in our lives has already been provided through the indwelling Holy Spirit. What a gift! A fruit of the spirit. It’s true, it’s real, it’s present, trust it. Breathe it in! Amen.
Closing Prayer:
Heavenly Father, I love you, I honor you, and I am so grateful for your presence in my life. I set out to pray for joy, Lord, but I know that my joy in the Lord is following you to the best of my abilities and with your blessings to guide me. Lord I know that the joy you give is to be passed on to others. Grant me eyes to see, ears to hear, and a heart of compassion to spend the joy you give me in the interest of others. I pray in the name of Jesus my Lord, amen
