Teach me your decrees, O Lord;
I will keep them to the end.
Give me understanding and I will obey your instructions;
I will put them into practice with all my heart.
Make me walk along the path of your commands, for that is where my happiness is found.
Give me an eagerness for your laws rather than a love for money!
Turn my eyes from worthless things, and give me life through your word.
Reassure me of your promise, made to those who fear you. Â Â Psalm 119:33-38 (NLT)
This devotion is just what is swirling in my spirit today that I want to say to my LORD.
You turned my life around. My life was so filled with confusion and self-loathing. As I look back on my life I see times and events when You were reaching out to me. You were whispering Your love in my ear and I continued to believe the judgment of myself and others instead of You. You never gave up on me. And when I finally stopped trying to earn Your love and just took what You were freely offering – words fail me but You know my heart and how that battered place has just healed and flourished under Your healing touch.
I have had doubts. Oh how often I have turned to You and asked “Why?!!†And often it is a revisited event and question! Your patience has been unfailing. You never seem to tire of talking to me, in fact, You make me feel like You want to spend more time with me. You want to not only heal my heart but my mind and spirit and protect them from the Accuser. You want me to know Your voice so well that I instantly know who is speaking to me. I will know who to listen to.
I’m weak but with You, we get through. I have learned how very weak that I am. I have learned how very strong I can be with You surrounding me, holding me, lifting me, and providing me with the same rest that You had in a boat in a storm. I can rest in the storm because I know who holds the ocean in His hand. You have never let me down! When I have stumbled, it is when I let go of Your hand and walked away from Your path.
It just keeps getting better and better. And even though the world may see me in the “autumn†of my life, You aren’t done with me. You still have plans for me and opportunities to use me. And I still have so much to learn from You! I feel like a child on the first day of a new school year – every morning! Lessons that I thought I had memorized have new wisdom to give to me, and to be passed on to my children and grandchildren and the many You put into my path. Oh LORD, may I be found faithful.
And now I bow, lay my head on Your lap and listen. Just listen. Thank You for speaking to me.
Through the years written by Barry Gibb and sung by Kenny Rogers
