Days 207-208: "Toward the LORD"

Psalm 25:15-18 English Standard Version (ESV)

15 My eyes are ever toward the Lord,
    for he will pluck my feet out of the net.

16 Turn to me and be gracious to me,
    for I am lonely and afflicted.
17 The troubles of my heart are enlarged;
    bring me out of my distresses.
18 Consider my affliction and my trouble,
    and forgive all my sins.

Relateable? God sees your pain and He's got you. Seek Him!

-L.

Day 204-206: "You Will Eat Your Fill And Dwell Securely."

Background: God has been giving the Israelites instructions for giving their farms and such a year off from growing crops every 7 years and to have a special homecoming celebration every 50th year. (Leviticus 25) Then He tells them to fear Him and obey Him but not to be afraid of where their food would come from in the years of rest because He would provide for them perfectly:

Leviticus 25:17-22English Standard Version (ESV)

17 You shall not wrong one another, but you shall fear your God, for I am the Lord your God.

18 “Therefore you shall do my statutes and keep my rules and perform them, and then you will dwell in the land securely. 19 The land will yield its fruit, and you will eat your fill and dwell in it securely. 20 And if you say, ‘What shall we eat in the seventh year, if we may not sow or gather in our crop?’ 21 I will command my blessing on you in the sixth year, so that it will produce a crop sufficient for three years. 22 When you sow in the eighth year, you will be eating some of the old crop; you shall eat the old until the ninth year, when its crop arrives.

Day 203: "The God to Whom I Belong and Whom I Worship"

Acts 27:22-25 English Standard Version (ESV)

22 Yet now I urge you to take heart, for there will be no loss of life among you, but only of the ship. 23 For this very night there stood before me an angel of the God to whom I belong and whom I worship, 24 and he said, ‘Do not be afraid, Paul; you must stand before Caesar. And behold, God has granted you all those who sail with you.’ 25 So take heart, men, for I have faith in God that it will be exactly as I have been told.

Day 202: "But The LORD Said to Him"

Judges 6:22-23English Standard Version (ESV)

22 Then Gideon perceived that he was the angel of the Lord. And Gideon said, “Alas, O Lord God! For now I have seen the angel of the Lord face to face.” 23 But the Lord said to him, “Peace be to you. Do not fear; you shall not die.”

Day 192-201: "He Will Not Leave You"

Deuteronomy 31:1-13English Standard Version (ESV)

Joshua to Succeed Moses

31 So Moses continued to speak these words to all Israel. 2 And he said to them, “I am 120 years old today. I am no longer able to go out and come in. The Lord has said to me, ‘You shall not go over this Jordan.’ 3 The Lord your God himself will go over before you. He will destroy these nations before you, so that you shall dispossess them, and Joshua will go over at your head, as the Lord has spoken. 4 And the Lord will do to them as he did to Sihon and Og, the kings of the Amorites, and to their land, when he destroyed them. 5 And the Lordwill give them over to you, and you shall do to them according to the whole commandment that I have commanded you. 6 Be strong and courageous. Do not fear or be in dread of them, for it is the Lord your God who goes with you. He will not leave you or forsake you.”

7 Then Moses summoned Joshua and said to him in the sight of all Israel, “Be strong and courageous, for you shall go with this people into the land that the Lord has sworn to their fathers to give them, and you shall put them in possession of it. 8 It is the Lord who goes before you. He will be with you; he will not leave you or forsake you. Do not fear or be dismayed."

9 Then Moses wrote this law and gave it to the priests, the sons of Levi, who carried the ark of the covenant of the Lord, and to all the elders of Israel. 10 And Moses commanded them, “At the end of every seven years, at the set time in the year of release, at the Feast of Booths, 11 when all Israel comes to appear before the Lord your God at the place that he will choose, you shall read this law before all Israel in their hearing. 12 Assemble the people, men, women, and little ones, and the sojourner within your towns, that they may hear and learn to fear the Lord your God, and be careful to do all the words of this law,13 and that their children, who have not known it, may hear and learn to fear the Lord your God, as long as you live in the land that you are going over the Jordan to possess.”

Days 189-191: "A Rebellious House"

Ezekiel 2:6-7

 

Ezekiel 2:6-7 (ESV) "And you, son of man, be not afraid of them, nor be afraid of their words, though briers and thorns are with you and you sit on scorpions. Be not afraid of their words, nor be dismayed at their looks, for they are a rebellious house. And you shall speak my words to them, whether they hear or refuse to hear, for they are a rebellious house."

Day 188: "To Your Master"

Isaiah 37:6-7

Isaiah 37:6-7 ESV "Isaiah said to them, 'Say to your master, "Thus says the Lord: Do not be afraid because of the words that you have heard, with which the young men of the king of Assyria have reviled me. Behold, I will put a spirit in him, so that he shall hear a rumor and return to his own land, and I will make him fall by the sword in his own land."'"

Day 187: "Greatly Delights"

Psalm 112:1 

Psalm 112:1 ESV "Praise the Lord! Blessed is the man who fears the Lord, who greatly delights in his commandments."

Day 186: "From Far Away"

Jeremiah 46:27-28

Jeremiah 46:27-28 ESV "But fear not, O Jacob my servant, nor be dismayed, O Israel, for behold, I will save you from far away, and your offspring from the land of their captivity. Jacob shall return and have quiet and ease, and none shall make him afraid. Fear not, O Jacob my servant, declares the Lord, for I am with you. I will make a full end of all the nations to which I have driven you, but of you I will not make a full end. I will discipline you in just measure, and I will by no means leave you unpunished."

Desire Fulfilled

So disappointment is a thing; A really big thing for me. When someone promises to do something for me and then doesn't, even if it's because they literally can't, it hurts really deeply. Even if it's something small, I can get really emotional and I don't always understand why.  I wondered if everyone felt this way or if there was something that had made me hypersensitive to disappointment and broken promises.

Then I found this verse:

Proverbs 13:12English Standard Version (ESV) 

Hope deferred makes the heart sick,
    but a desire fulfilled is a tree of life.

It was refreshing to realize that God agrees with me that disappointment sucks but it also showed me that not hoping for things wasn't the answer, because fulfilled desire is a tree of life. That's so beyond good! I do not want to give that up out of fear of disappointment! 
     So what do I do now? I can't stop looking forward to things but I also can't force people to come through for me every time. As I was thinking about that recently, I thought of this verse:

Psalm 42:11English Standard Version (ESV) 

Why are you cast down, O my soul,

    and why are you in turmoil within me?

Hope in God; for I shall again praise him,

    my salvation and my God.

Can you relate too? With the Son's of Korah let's speak to our souls:
I know it hurts but you don't have to live in turmoil over disappointment from others people. Hope in God who fulfills the desires of the hearts that are pliable in His hands. I will continue to praise Him despite the distraction of disappointment because He is my savior and He is my God!

-L.

Psalm 37:4-5English Standard Version (ESV)

Delight yourself in the Lord,

    and he will give you the desires of your heart. 

Commit your way to the Lord;

    trust in him, and he will act.

P.S. Here is a song that I sing over myself when disappointment stings. It helps me to focus on the faithfulness of God rather than the failures of my fellow humans.

Day 185: "In My Father's House"

John 14:1-2 English Standard Version (ESV)

 “Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me. In my Father's house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you?

Day 184: "Because of The Reproach of The Nations"

Nehemiah 5:9 New American Standard Bible (NASB)

Again I said, “The thing which you are doing is not good; should you not walk in the fear of our God because of the reproach of the nations, our enemies?

Day 183: "The Love God Has For Us"

1 John 4:15-17 English Standard Version (ESV)

15 Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God. 16 So we have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and whoever abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him. 17 By this is love perfected with us, so that we may have confidence for the day of judgment, because as he is so also are we in this world.