Great is the Lord!

This is me on a winter day during the pandemic when our SUM cohort challenged each other to take a photo of themselves worshipping in the snow.

This morning I woke up earlier than I wanted to. I've been sick for the past week and really needed more rest. However, my heart knew what I needed more than physical rest... spiritual rest. I grabbed my Psalms Scripture Journal* and started reading and reflecting on Psalm 40. And while I could share so many different things about what this Psalm says, my heart was drawn to verse 16:

"But may all who seek you rejoice and be glad in you; may those who love your salvation say continually, "Great is the Lord!"

It made me think about how easy it is to get caught up in the world. We’re surrounded by it. It touches our humanness - we see it, feel it, and listen to it. We absorb and allow it to shape us, whether in an idea, thought, or opinion on how we engage with the world and the people and things in it.

But God wants to do the shaping in us. He doesn’t want us to sit in our thoughts and feelings and let them fester into words that aren’t His. He doesn’t want our focus to be on the world around us and to pick a side, platform, or person to align with. He wants us to stand on our faith, focusing our eyes and ears on Him alone.

Looking to the world keeps us in a state of perpetual unease. However, we don’t have to be uneasy when we seek the Lord! Instead, we can rejoice and be glad in Him, because regardless of what’s going on in this broken world, which is full of broken people, we can always say “Great is the Lord!” Each time this phrase is uttered, it reminds us where our hope is anchored. It shifts our perspective from the chaos of this world to the unshakable goodness of God.

Our words should be filled with gratitude and gladness for the only One who truly saves us. Jesus is the One to whom we should seek and look to. Not ideas, opinions, or even our own thoughts, which can deceive us. Jesus is the One who offers truth, not the world. His love and peace should be what motivates our words, both in how and what we speak.

If the world wants me to pick a side, Jesus is who I choose. He's the platform I stand on, and I want to say "Great is the Lord" louder than anything else. I hope you do, too.

Great is the Lord!

xo

*If you like to take notes in your Bible, the ESV Illuminated Scripture Journals are a game changer. They have one for every book of the Bible. Look them up!