29 November 2022 – Take Time Out To Seek The Lord

Take Time Out To Seek The Lord

BRD REFLECTIONS

2 Thessalonians 1; 2 and Psalm 116, 117 (NIV)

(Goh Khean Chye, DISCIPLE Committee Chairperson, Discipleship & Nurture)

READ:

Psalm 116 (NIV)

As I read and re-read the various assigned passages, these 4 verses from Psalm 116 caught my attention in my preferred NLT version:

¹ I love the Lord because he hears my voice and my prayer for mercy.

⁶ The Lord protects those of childlike faith; I was facing death, and he saved me. ⁷ Let my soul be at rest again, for the Lord has been good to me.

¹³ I will lift up the cup of salvation and praise the Lord’s name for saving me.

However, I was prompted to re-read this in the more contemporary CEV version:

¹ I love you, Lord!  You answered my prayers.

⁶ You protect ordinary people, and when I was helpless, you saved me ⁷and treated me so kindly that I don’t need to worry anymore.

¹³ I will pour out an offering of wine to you, and I will pray in your name because you have saved me.

OBSERVE:

Reading the two versions helped make it clear that this psalm is indeed a good reminder that:

1. The Lord hears and answers our prayers.
2. He seeks to protect the ordinary folks like me and with him watching over me, I don’t need to worry.
3. I must remember to give glory to the Lord for all his provision.

APPLY:

As I reflected on my own walk, I remember how when things are going well, I have tended to drift away from the Lord and come running back to the Lord in times of crisis. This was the story of my life for the first 20 years of my Christian walk when I was busily building my career and starting a family.

It took a major crisis to get me to be more intentional in my Discipleship journey and truly committing time at the start of each day in prayer and the study of the word through the annual journey with different groups of fellow believers.

My journey has not been all smooth sailing and I have to confess that I still do worry quite a bit, but with each new crisis that the Lord helped carry me through, I have taken a small step towards worrying less and trusting the Lord more.

DO:

1. To take a time out to seek the Lord’s plan for me for the next year.
2. To continue to start each day with Thanksgiving and prayer and
3. To seek the Lord’s direction on who to bless and share the good news with.

PRAY:

Father Lord, may I not be rushed into settling the urgent things each day but take time to seek your direction on what to focus on and how to be a blessing to someone. Amen.