Remind yourself
But I have trusted in Your mercy; My heart shall rejoice in Your salvation. I will sing to the Lord, because He has dealt bountifully with me. – Psalms 13:5-6
Some days I wake up and just feel low. Even though there is nothing really wrong in my life, there are still days that I have to stir myself up. Because I have created the habit and space to spend time with my heavenly Father each morning, He always helps me to fix my heart and perspective on Him and the purpose for today. Whenever those days happen, I remind myself to be thankful for all that God has done in my life and is still doing today. I thank Him for His faithfulness and that I know He loves me and leads me step by step through life. Then I ask Him for some encouraging moments or words to help me shift my thinking from this temporal world to His everlasting Kingdom.
In Psalms 13, David wrote out some things he was feeling that day. He was discouraged because he felt like he was facing his struggles in life all alone. He even asked God why He was hiding from him and why God had forgotten about him. He appeals to the Lord to hear and enlighten his eyes so he won’t sleep the sleep of death and his enemies will not prevail against him.
By verse five of this Psalm, David is stirred up and reminded himself that he has trusted in God’s mercy, and he remembered that his heart rejoiced in His salvation. David actually begins to sing to the Lord because God had always come through for David and faithfully dealt bountifully with him all the days of his life.
It is the same thing for us today. Even though most of us will never go through the trouble that David did, we still have a lot to rejoice about. We will probably never have the king of our land seeking us out to try to kill us and it will be pretty unlikely that we will ever have one of our children rise up to take our home and kingdom from us. But that doesn’t mean we will never have days that we need to be encouraged. Like David did, we can talk it over with God. We can ask the questions that are in our heart about the circumstances we are going through, but ultimately when we shift our attitude to be thankful for all He has brought us through in the past, that is when we will begin to have peace and understand the purpose of the path we are on.
Today I want to encourage you to make time to talk about your life with your heavenly Father. Set aside a special time to connect with Him personally. Chances are you are feeling some unsettling emotions of your unknown future, but remember He has it all planned out. Press into Him today and ask Him to keep you on the path of His plan for your life. Put a guard up against the external voices that will plant doubt and fear in your heart. Instead, spend time meditating on His promises from His word. Then remind yourself about the complications He has brought you through in the past. Only then will you be able to keep your mind fixed on the blessing of abundance in your world and only then will you be able to “see” how He has been carrying you through the whole time.
If you have never received His peace and joy through His provision of salvation in the blood of Jesus, do that right now. He will not only come into your heart and life and save you, but He will also keep you in all your ways from this day forward as you commit them to Him.
Pray this prayer from your heart to receive Him today: God in heaven, I know I’m a sinner and I need a Savior. I want to turn away from my sinful life to the life You have planned for me. Please forgive my sins, cleanse me from my past, and make me new today. I know Your Son, Jesus died for me. I believe in my heart that You raised Him from the dead. At this very moment, I accept, confess, and proclaim Jesus as my personal Lord and Savior . . . to be Lord of my life from this day forward. I now have a right relationship with God my Father through this salvation in the blood of Jesus. I thank You for giving me Your Holy Spirit to guide me and to empower me to accomplish the things You have planned for the rest my life here in this world. In Jesus’ name, Amen
Today’s scripture reading: Psalms 13
1 How long, O Lord? Will You forget me forever? How long will You hide Your face from me?
2 How long shall I take counsel in my soul, having sorrow in my heart daily? How long will my enemy be exalted over me?
3 Consider and hear me, O Lord my God; Enlighten my eyes, lest I sleep the sleep of death;
4 Lest my enemy say, “I have prevailed against him”; Lest those who trouble me rejoice when I am moved.
5 But I have trusted in Your mercy; My heart shall rejoice in Your salvation.
6 I will sing to the Lord, because He has dealt bountifully with me.
The Daily Dose 