Tag: Psalm 119:105

Three Ways to Navigate Difficult Days

Jeannie Waters41 Comments on Three Ways to Navigate Difficult Days

                                                                                                            

My leg muscles screamed in protest as I gasped for breath and pulled myself upward to the next rest bench on the mountain trail. I promised myself, “Girlfriend, you WILL be in better shape next year!” Can you identify?

For several years, our family of four participated in a volksmarch, a German term for people’s walk. Beginning at the southern terminus of the Appalachian Trail near Helen, Georgia, we walked only five kilometers, but with steep inclines, the distance seemed much further. At the finish line, with relief and perspiration, we accepted our medals as family tradition mementos.

Do you have days that feel like an arduous walk up a mountain while others resemble a leisurely stroll? I do. On those troublesome days, challenges can feel like rocks in our backpack, slowing progress and discouraging us.  

The verb walk in the Bible describes the daily life and behavior of one who has surrendered her life to Christ.

Therefore, as you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him.

Colossians 2:6 ESV

                 Paul prayed believers would “walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him: bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God” (Colossians 1:10 ESV). How can we navigate life’s challenging times as believers and continue to bear fruit? Consider the following:   

Three Ways to Navigate Difficult Days

1. Look for markers in the Bible.

On the Appalachian Trail, arrowed signs pointed the way and prevented error when undergrowth obscured forks in the trail. The Bible is like a collection of markers, guiding us in God’s way. Bible study steadies and steers us and prepares us to face the trials of mountain trail days. Writing and decorating a verse may help you commit it to memory.

Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.

Psalm 119:105 ESV

2. Lean on the Lord in prayer.

My walking stick worked like a lever to push me up the mountain when weak muscles faltered. Communication with God in prayer strengthens us when we meet roadblocks and encounter difficulties. Having an ongoing prayer conversation with God throughout the day helps us enjoy His presence and yields His peace and wisdom to bolster us to the next level on the journey. He knows the future, and we can trust Him with today and tomorrow.      

Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.

Philippians 4:6 ESV

3. Listen to trustworthy Christ followers.

Although I read the signs and used a walking stick, I also needed my family’s encouragement, and at some points, a literal push over the next ridge. Truth. Asking for help can be humbling, yet other Christians can remind us of biblical truth and the fact that God is always with us, even on hard days.

Therefore encourage one another and build one another up, just as you are doing.

1Thessalonians 5:11 ESV

            How is your walk today? Perhaps printing the verses above on cards or typing them into a phone app will help in troublesome times. When a day’s journey feels like a steep mountain hike, turn the day into an adventure with God by searching for His direction in the Bible and in prayer as you seek encouragement from fellow hikers.

Now it’s your turn

What helps you on trying days?  

Storing Treasure: Thoughts from a Jewelry Box and Psalm 119

Jeannie Waters32 Comments on Storing Treasure: Thoughts from a Jewelry Box and Psalm 119

 

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Once my daughter and nieces claimed their favorites of my mother’s rings, the dark green satin-and-velvet-lined jewelry boxes that sat on Mama’s dresser for decades held only valued memories and a collection of inexpensive pieces.

When I study the contents of the jewelry boxes, I recall bits of Mama’s well-lived life and evidence of the values she held dear. You can tell a lot about a person by the things they keep.

Among bracelets, necklaces, and earbobs (as she called them), I found my brother’s Scout medals and my 4-H pin, as well as a lapel pin I made in second grade from a wooden ice cream spoon and sequins.

Mama saved pins from her Pilot Club days and from the PTA offices she held. Sunday school attendance badges and a pin that reads “Jesus in the Reason for the Season” rest in the bottom section.

Faith, family, and community service filled her heart and her calendar.

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The piece of her jewelry I appreciate the most reminds me that Mama’s heart was also filled with truths from God’s Word which she’d held dear since her early teen days. The tiny gold cross on a dainty chain that my dad gave to her on their wedding day bears the engraving “EJC to SMC 5-13-51.”

As her jewelry box indicates and my memory affirms, my mother valued biblical truth more than expensive jewels. She would agree with the psalmist who said to God,

The law from your mouth is more precious to me than thousands of pieces of silver and gold.

Psalms 119:72

God’s Word is a precious gift to His children. Let’s consider the value we place on Bible study as we read what the psalmist believed.

Thoughts from Psalm 119

Consider this familiar one:

Your word is a lamp for my feet, a light on my path .

Psalm 119:105

As we search for answers in troubled times, a fresh look at this verse reminds us that God uses His truths to help us navigate uncharted waters when they swirl around us.

Have you wondered lately how to respond, what to say, or whom to trust? When we search for answers, God often provides them as we study His Word. When we search for answers, God often provides them as we study His Word. Share on X

Let’s picture the verse another way: Imagine walking in an unfamiliar backyard void of light except for the flashlight you hold.  

As you proceed onto each steppingstone, the flashlight shines on your feet to keep you steady. When you move forward, the beam illuminates the next steppingstone to prevent you from wandering off into the darkness.

We need not fear the next step even in darkness.

The more we study, the more light our heavenly Father sheds on our path as He continues to transform us to be more like Jesus.

We can assess the value we place on Scripture as we read the psalmist’s views in Psalm 119:  

Oh, how I love your law! I meditate on it all day long.

Verse 97

You are my portion, Lord; I have promised to obey your words.

Verse 57

I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you.

Verse 11

As we engage in Bible study this week, let’s ask God to use His Word mightily in our hearts, to endear it to us, and to guide us to fall in love more deeply with the One who led the psalmist to write these prayers:    

Open my eyes that I may see wonderful things in your law.

Verse 18

Give me understanding, so that I may keep your law and obey it with all my heart.

Verse 34

As we store God’s words in our hearts, He transforms them into sparkling jewels that change our lives.

Three-Part “Storing Treasures” Series

This post is part one of a three-part series about treasuring God’s Word. In the next two posts we’ll consider how specific portions of Scripture meet our needs, then we’ll share ideas for memorizing Scripture.

Please tell us in the comment section how God’s Word has ministered to your heart lately.

Verses are taken from the NIV.