wait on Him... Psalm 27:14...

Wait for the Lord; be strong, and let your heart take courage;

wait for the Lord!

Psalm 27:14 ESV

wait... to stay in place in expectation of: await... to remain stationary in readiness or expectation...

---Merriam-Webster.com

Wait... we wait with expectation of something...
waiting in a doctor's office...
waiting in line for the barista...
waiting for a loved one to arrive...
waiting to go out for the evening...

We wait because something is going to happen...
something is coming... and we are ready...

Sometimes the wait is longer than expected...
sometimes we become discouraged and give up... leave...
sometimes... it seems like nothing is going to happen...

So when the wait is long...
moving our eyes to the Lord...
gives strength...
encouragement of heart...
helps us endure...
when we don't the exact arrival time...

I'm doing some waiting today...
waiting to see how it will all get done...
waiting to get my mishap made right...
and it feels a little overwhelming...
because I can't see how it can all happen...

But when I remember... I'm waiting on Him...
the One who wouldn't call me to do something and not make the way...
the One who knows what's next and how it will all fit in...
the One who is my Shepherd who will not leave me wanting...
and remember He is the Sovereign One...
who works out all things...
for the good of those who love Him...
who are called according to His purpose...

Then... my heart stills... expectation rises... and wonder creeps in...

Wait... expect Him to move...
He will...
with just what you need...

His grace is sufficient... more than sufficient...

Reminded today... His abundance... overflows...

Repentance inspired... through words of teachers...

Encouraged... to follow through on hard things...

His grace is sufficient... more than sufficient...

For this spiritual weakling...

But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you,

for my power is made perfect in weakness."

2 Corinthians 12:9

a word for the weary...

Walking through new... continues... 

building confidence... 

exercising humility...

A busy season... weighs even in my sleep...

Early morning waking thoughts... focused on...

work to do...

mistakes to correct...

firsts still to be done...

By the time the hour of work came around... I was already weary...

Trusting His strength... with my weakness... the day progressed... and so did the work...

At the end of the day... coming home with a tired headache... the joy... it still fills...

His faithfulness to strengthen... in your weakness... never fails...

My flesh and my heart may fail,

but God is the strength of my heart

and my portion forever.

Psalm 73:26

how strong is He...?

How strong is He...?

The earth's weight has been estimated at six sextillion tons (that's a six with 21 zeros). Yet it is perfectly balanced and turns easily on its axis. It revolves daily at the rate of more than 1,000 miles per hour or 25,000 miles each day. This adds up to nine million miles a year. Considering the tremendous weight of six sextillion tons rolling at this fantastic speed around an invisible axis, held in place by unseen bands of gravitation, the words of Job 26:7 take on unparalleled significance: "He poised the earth on nothingness."

The earth revolves in its own orbit around the sun, making the long elliptical circuit of six hundred million miles each year --- which means we are traveling in orbit at 19 miles per second or 1,140 miles per hour.

Job further invites us to meditate on "the wonders of God" (37:14). Consider the sun. Every square yard of the sun's surface is emitting constantly an energy level of 130,000 horsepower (that is, approximately 450 eight-cylinder automobile engines), in flames that are being produced by an energy source much more powerful than coal.

The nine major planets in our solar system range in distance from the sun from 36 million to about 3 trillion, 6,664 billion miles; yet each moves around the sun in exact precision, with orbits ranging from 88 days for Mercury to 248 years for Pluto.

Still, the sun is only one minor star in the 100 billion orbs which comprise our Milky Way galaxy. If you were to hold out a dime, a ten-cent piece, at arm's length, the coin would block out 15 million stars from your view, if your eyes could see with that power.

When we attempt to comprehend the almost countless stars and other heavenly bodies in the Milky Way alone, we resonate to Isaiah's paean of praise to the all-powerful Creator: "Lift up your eyes and look. Who made these stars if not he who drills them like an army, calling each one by name? So mighty is his power, so great his strength, that not one fails to answer" (40:26). 

--- Brennan Manning, The Ragamuffin Gospel 

How strong... is... He...?

Strong enough... to hold all things... together...

He is before all things,

and in him all things hold together.

Colossians 1:17 NIV

This week's readings for The Journey...

Monday                  Exodus 8

Tuesday                  Exodus 9

Wednesday            Exodus 10-11

Thursday                Exodus 12

Friday                     Exodus 13-14

today... He tells me He's strong...

Sitting outside...warm breeze swirling... sun shining between storms... I feel the weight... of one facing a current loss... an unexpected loss... and the weight of my own sorrows...

I begin to praise Him... as fresh... and I sense Him say...

Today... praise Me as strong...

And I do... a praise song comes to mind...

Our God is greater... our God is stronger...

God You are higher than any other...

Thoughts go to Exodus... the next book on The Journey... the one begun this week...

God displays His great strength to both His people... and His enemies...

But in the beginning... the Israelites... wrought with impatience... discouragement... and cruel bondage... doubt God... and persecute Moses...

Accordingly, say to the Israelites, I am the Lord, and I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians, and I will free you from their bondage, and I will rescue you...

...

Moses told this to the Israelites, but they refused to listen to Moses because of their impatience and anguish of spirit and because of their cruel bondage.

Exodus 6:6, 9 Amp

They did not yet know His strength... His power...

For hundreds of years... they had only known Pharaoh's oppressive strength... which he exerted even more after Moses told Pharaoh... Thus says the Lord... Let My people go...

And I consider... if they had stayed in their initial stance of worship... when Moses first delivered the message... and the signs God had given him...

Aaron spoke all the words which the Lord had spoken to Moses, and did the signs in the sight of the people. And the people believed; and when they heard that the Lord had visited the Israelites, and that He had looked [in compassion] upon their affliction, they bowed their heads and worshiped.

Exodus 5:30-31 Amp

...and if... they had recognized the strength He poured into them... making them into a nation... while enslaved as a people...

Come, let us deal shrewdly with them, lest they multiply more... So they set over [the Israelites] taskmasters to afflict and oppress them with [increased] burdens. ... But the more [the Egyptians] oppressed them, the more they multiplied and expanded, so that [the Egyptians] were vexed and alarmed because of the Israelites. And the Epyptians reduced them to severe slavery.

Exodus 1:10-13 Amp

...surely they could have seen His strength... sensed His power... and been encouraged...

Praising Him as strong... the weight of sorrow lifts... the heart lightens... and hope shines... as warm as the sun... between storms...

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God You are greater than any other...

I praise You as strong...

Do you need to see His strength in your life today...?

Praise Him...