Time After Time

Our church's youth group is reading through the Bible this year and the staff is doing a blog along with it. They invited anyone in the church to join in the reading and I have been really lacking in my discipline in my time in God's Word so I decided to take the challenge. Some days I do well, other days I don't. But I catch up when I fall behind and am seeking to just soak up God's Word and be in tune to His Spirit as He speaks to me. I have been amazed at how He has been speaking to me. The past few days I've been challenged to keep my focus on God and not on the trials or difficulties in front of me. The miracles Jesus performed in His time on earth have reminded me to focus on Him and that He is my Provider. When there were multitudes to be fed and the disciples only had a few fish and a few loaves of bread I'm guessing (and I could be wrong here) the people in the crowd weren't aware that there might be a "shortage" - they were listening to Jesus' teaching and as He gave thanks for the food they were thankful for His provision for them.

In today's reading was Nehemiah chapter 9... now anyone who has read Nehemiah knows there are a lot of lists and names and numbers and it can be somewhat difficult to get through. However, today's reading really struck me. He starts the prayer: “Stand up and praise the Lord your God, who is from everlasting to everlasting. Blessed be your glorious name, and may it be exalted above all blessing and praise. You alone are the Lord. You made the heavens, even the highest heavens, and all their starry host, the earth and all that is on it, the seas and all that is in them. You give life to everything, and the multitudes of heaven worship you." (Nehemiah 5b-6) He goes on to talk about God's faithfulness, Israel's mistrust and turning away from God and then in verse 28 he prays, "“But as soon as they were at rest, they again did what was evil in your sight. Then you abandoned them to the hand of their enemies so that they ruled over them. And when they cried out to you again, you heard from heaven, and in your compassion you delivered them time after time.“ 
 
OK - I admit, I am a child of the 80's and when I saw the phrase "Time after Time" I thought of Cyndi Lauper's song of that title. I looked it up on YouTube and was surprised how this song, although I doubt it was her intent in writing it, could be a prayer... you can listen here 

How many times am I way too far ahead of God, worrying about the future, my bills, what if this?, what if that? And God is telling me, just as Nehemiah prayed, that in His compassion He will deliver me time after time - when I'm lost, He will find me... when I fall, He will catch me - in His compassion He will deliver me TIME AFTER TIME!

 It is my hope and prayer that I will learn to keep my eyes on Jesus, trust that He is Jehovah-Jireh - my Provider. It is my hope and prayer that I will not fret and worry about things that I have no control over and remember that I am the beloved daughter of the King of Kings and Lord of Lords - the Creator of all... there is nothing too hard for Him and He just asks me to trust Him... time after time.

Seeking to trust Him time after time,

Sherri