Psalm 73:25-29
Whom have I in heaven but You?
And there is none upon earth that I desire besides You.
26 My flesh and my heart fail;
But God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.
27 For indeed, those who are far from You shall perish;
You have destroyed all those who desert You for harlotry.
28 But it is good for me to draw near to God;
I have put my trust in the Lord GOD,
That I may declare all Your works.
Recent events in my life have caused me to do a lot of soul searching and deep thinking. If you know me, then you know I am not a deep thinker. I pretty much have always been very accepting of the way things are.
Oh yes, I have strong convictions and can be pretty opinionated, but just have never been one to really dig deep or put another way – “think that hard.” But, lately, I have been doing a lot of deep thinking about change. This year my life has been full of change! There have been good changes, not so good changes, and some that are just different. I am forming a new perspective on life. Maybe, just maybe, I am beginning to learn what God deems important!
The other night I was reading Psalm 73 and these verses jumped off the page. “Whom have I in heaven but You? And there is none upon earth that I desire besides You. My flesh and my heart fail; But God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.” (vs. 25-26) You see when I got the news of my brother Ivan’s death, I was shell shocked! I guess one is never prepared for such news, but even now as I think back to that moment, it still seems like a dream and at times I think I will wake up and it will be over. But no, we all know that’s not the way it will ever be, at least not here on this earth! But, during this time of grieving, I have spent some very precious time on my back porch with the Lord, baring my soul. I have come to realize that what the psalmist says in Psalm 73:28 is worth remembering: “But it is good for me to draw near to God; I have put my trust in the Lord God, That I may declare all Your works.” (vs. 27-28) For you see, that through trials, changes, and yes, even the death of my dear, sweet, brother – God remains a constant. He can be trusted. He wants us to draw near to Him! So, while change can bring about trials, it is those trials which can push us to yes, dig deep, do some soul searching. Through that process I have begun to sense a hunger to draw nearer to God! So, now on those rare occasions when I get to sit in my favorite spot on my back porch and spend special time with the Lord reading scripture or just meditating on Him while enjoying the outdoors His works are so evident and in that very moment I wonder why I need to be reminded that God wants that fellowship with me. Maybe I just need more time on my back porch!
For His Glory!
Pam Dratnol
Thank you Pam for sharing your heart and time of grieving with the ladies at Grace. These past few weeks have been an emotional roller coaster ride for us as a family and your sharing that Psalm was a wonderful reminder that we are never out of His heart. He hears us when we can't seem to hear Him. It is in the deep, dark, moments of our lives that we find a new perspective of His mercy and care for us. My breakfast room is my place for reading and meditating on His Word. My view from the windows in that room have been such a delight. I watch the sunrise from the room and get to watch the cows, turkeys, birds and mountains share their beauty of creation. Psalm 27 is where my quiet time has taken me. Verses 4 -6: "One thing have I desired of the LORD, that will I seek after; that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of thee ORD, and to enquire in his temple. For in the time of trouble he shall hide me in his pavillion: in the secret of his tabernacle shall he hide me; he shall set me up upon a rock. And now shall mine head be lifted up above mine enemies round about me; the about me; therefore will I offer in his tabernacle sacrifices of joy; I will sing, yea, I will sing praises unto the LORD.
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