Psalm 20

I am having a hard time keeping up with the four chapter a day reading schedule, and find myself ditching out when I don't feel I have adequate time to cover the passages (which is not good!)...so I am changing things up. I am going to spend some time reading and praying through the Psalms...and already God has used this change to speak deeply into my heart.

The staff at Northside Christian, where I work, is faced with a number of difficult decisions. We have huge changes coming. We have buildings about to open. We have the responsibility of leading a group of 1800 or so people in pursuit of the way of Jesus Christ. There has been a great deal of pressure on people lately...there has been a great deal of crying out to God and begging Him for direction. Before my reading of Psalm 20 today I spent a good deal of time praying for wisdom, praying for the future, praying for guidance, praying for people in and out of the church who I know are struggling right now...and this is how I was answered...

Read Psalm 20.

That is exactly what I needed to hear...what I needed to read...and I hope it was very meaningful for you as well. Our leadership is crying out for vision, for guidance, for clarity...and it seemed like God was telling me through this Psalm that we will have it! Praise be to God! We must trust in God...we must continue to seek His will and not our own...and He will hear our cries!

20:1 - "May the Lord answer you in your day of trouble." There are so many right now who I know are struggling...who I have been praying for...and I know that God will meet them in their pain, their struggle, their brokenness.

20:4 - "May he grant you your heart's desire." At Northside, our desire as leaders is to serve...to lead well...to shore up our team...to get people into positions where they will be serving most effectively...to answer God's call. Our desires do not revolve around our own wants...they revolve around honoring God and His ever growing kingdom through our service and He WILL meet our desires. He will meet our desire to show us His desires for our ministry...I know it.

20:5 - We can celebrate...we can rejoice, because God will move! Do not forget that.

20:7 - Do not put trust in yourself, your strength, your creativity, in human structures, in hard work alone...put your trust in God - He will not let you down. Everything else will fail in the end...we will fail ourselves...but God is faithful and He will prevail and He will provide. Thank you God!