In the Right Place: a Reflection on Psalm 60, Psalm 148, 1 Kings 3:5-14, James 4:13-17; 5:7-11 and J

Restore; Give victory; Grant help. Do these things for your people God. Do these things for me. Like the psalmist, I cry out to God. I am more and more aware of my extreme need for God. In my brokenness, I experience God’s faithfulness in profound ways. God is always faithful, but it is mainly in my fragile, depraved state that I get beyond my intellectual understanding of that faithfulness. I wish that wasn’t so, but it is what it is. Solomon’s prayer is my prayer more and more; “God give me an understanding mind. I want to lead well.” Resting in the Lord and the understanding he gives me is comforting. Oh, I still make plans, but with God’s understanding I better see that the days I have are not my own and his will be done; despite me and my will. I can really only do those things that God has laid out before me. If I continue to put myself in places where God can teach, heal, admonish, instruct, encourage and nurture, I will be given restoration, victory and help. God, thank you for your ongoing commitment to this child of yours. With you, I am in the right place.

Scripture texts are taken from the two-year daily lectionary cycle which follows the liturgical calendar and begins on the First Sunday of Advent.