Skip to main content

God is For Me

By
My sweet mother-in-law bought a book for herself and gave me the eBook copy of it.  It has been fun to read so far. It is called For Times of Trouble by Jeffrey R. Holland.  It is basically a compilation of essays on his favorite Psalms along with his thoughts about each of them.

 This week I've read the preface and the first chapter. While I like to think I know what's going on in the scriptures, I still can't say that I've ever read the Bible cover to cover.  I started it on the mission, but got too weirded out with the OT and gave up half way through Genesis.  Too many crazy people doing weirdo things.
  
I decided to read the book of psalms to go along with this book by Elder Holland.   His preface talks about how we all face trials and times of trouble, and there are various things that can bring us comfort in hard moments.  We all experience trouble and should expect it.  He quoted Harold S. Kushner saying that, "...expecting a trouble-free life because you are a good person is like expecting the bull not to charge you because you are a vegetarian."  I thought that was funny.  And true.

The first psalm I read about this week was Psalm 56:9 which says, "When I cry unto thee, then shall mine enemies turn back: this I know; for God is for me."  I like that phrase...God is for me.  No matter how hard things are or how messed up our lives are or how inconvenient the timing of life is, God is for us.  He is on our side.  Elder Holland says, "Everything He does is in support of that ultimate purpose [for us to live with Him again], no matter what refinements or trials are required in the achievement of that objective...God's singular, solitary quest is to bless and exalt His children, to save (if they will let Him) every human soul."

There is a reference to Paul commenting on this particular psalm too, which I always think is cool.  What would it be like for someone in 2000 years to read about you commenting on a scripture that was written even earlier?  Anyway, Paul says, "If God be for us, who [or we might add, what] can be against us?" Romans 8:31  Good thought, Paul.  You have a point.


So...

When my baby is screaming at me or spewing some kind of bodily fluid at me, or some lady makes a dumb comment to me at church, or my home teacher tells me how hard it is to have "apartment people" in his ward, or when I don't feel like getting out of bed because...why should I?  I have no where to go...or when we don't get a job we want, or do get a job we don't want, or can't find anything to eat in my packed fridge, or definitely can't find anything to wear in my packed closet, or hear about bombs at marathon finish lines, or can't find the pacifier...again, or family pictures don't go as I planned, or I just can't quite seem to get it together...the list could go on forever...


 I just need to remember that God is for me.  He is rooting for me.  He is my biggest fan, and He wants so desperately for me to succeed.  That should help me make it through.  I bet God is for you too. ;)  
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Thanks for visiting :)

Popular posts from this blog

Their Proper Place

By
The past few months have been exciting for me. I have made a lot of changes in my life in an attempt to truly find joy in my journey. My journey of motherhood. My journey of teaching. My journey to being the healthiest and happiest version of me I can be.  After each of my three boys were born, my body has obviously changed a lot, and my depression has become more prevalent. Over the past several years, my autoimmune disease has played a fairly big part in my health, and anxiety kept creeping back into the forefront of each day. While I have (and had) a wonderful life, I was becoming overwhelmed on a daily and sometimes hourly basis with...everything. All. of. the. things: My kids, my house, my body, the noise, projects, papers to be graded, lack of focus, feelings of inadequacy and failure, pure exhaustion, back problems, lack of energy, constant bubbling anger, guilt for constantly blowing up at my family...I felt out of control all the time. Before marriage and kiddos...
Post a Comment
Read more

Steadfast & Immovable

By
Sister Beck is coming on Saturday to speak to our stake at the BYU-I center, so I thought I would start getting ready by reading some of the most recent Relief Society messages. I read a talk by Sister Silvia H. Allred called Steadfast & Immovable . I particularly appreciated these two quotes: "I know that each of us has a vital and essential role as a daughter of God. He has bestowed upon His daughters divine attributes for the purpose of forwarding His work. God has entrusted women with the sacred work of bearing and rearing children. No other work is more important. It is a holy calling. The noblest office for a woman is the sacred work of building eternal families , ideally in partnership with her husband." "We demonstrate our acceptance of Jesus Christ as our Savior when we place our faith in Him, repent of our sins, and receive the saving ordinances required to enter God’s presence. These saving ordinances are symbols of the covenants we make. The coven...
Post a Comment
Read more

"I call redo!"

By
Anytime we made mistakes playing games or doing anything really, as little kids (especially playing 4-square), we would yell, "I call redo!"  This was the all-inclusive, error-erasing phrase that could never be contested, and always allowed one the chance to try again.  You could use this phrase in many circumstances: when you messed up yourself, or when others messed up in a way that gave you a disadvantage.  Either way, it was a saving grace throughout my childhood. Well, today, I call redo. Earlier this week, I posted about my thoughts on the "Wear pants to church" controversy that people were talking about all over Facebook and in the news.  I had one friend who helped me to see that I hadn't really considered all sides of the story.  I am grateful for the time she took to point out some of my unjust and partly ignorant thinking. Just because someone participated in, or even initiated this event did not mean that she was demanding to be given the Pries...
3 comments
Read more