Journal Entry ~ 06/22/19

I lift up my eyes to the mountains— where does my help come from? My help comes from the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth. He will not let your foot slip— he who watches over you will not slumber; (Psalm 121:1-3 NIV)

I’ve been fascinated learning about the 15 Psalms of Ascent. There is such wisdom in understanding the pilgrimage they were on and the many parallels to my life. 

In psalm 120, the psalmists is beginning his journey toward Jerusalem. He is in Meshach, surrounded by deceit and prays the Lord saves him from the enemy. Psalm 121 is the 2nd psalm in the Psalms of Ascent, and we can see he is clearly on the journey, as he raises his eyes to the mountains. 

When the psalmist faces trials on his journey, he looks up to the Lord’s creation and reminds himself of two great truths: one is that our God is the Creator of all things, and the other is that God never sleeps. He is the reason we are here, He is the Maker of all we see and know. Without Him, we wouldn’t be here. Yet we take our eyes off of the greatness of who He is all the time, and we choose instead to move our eyes to ourselves. 

Despite what we know to be true about our tireless God, we look to our own insignificant power to manage our struggles. We turn to our human wisdom, our education, our material wealth, our looks or something else instead of relying on God. We encounter trials - a diagnosis, a difficult relationship, our anxious thoughts, financial issues - and we go about trying to fix it in our own power. So many of us who claim to trust God will try to “pull themselves up by their own bootstraps” instead of simply turning their troubles over to him. We assign power and responsibility to ourselves that we just don’t have. 

Over and over in scripture, we are reminded to turn our eyes to Him.  Despite what's happening, our peace and our hope come from remembering who He is. How do we remind ourselves of this truth? Do as the psalmist does - take a look at nature and see God’s hand in His creation. Remind yourself He is the Maker of all things, and that He never sleeps. 

We’re driving out to Sonoma today - I’m looking forward to seeing the mountains on my drive and worshipping His great hand of creation.


Press on ~ you are loved 💗

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