Aim High

Morning devotions, a strong cup of coffee and ....................

.....................pain.

Still.

It's been almost a week.

Pinched nerve in my leg on top of my frazzled nerves. Not knowing what caused this. Not feeling in control.

Overwhelmed by all the things on the 'to-do" list and why don't we see immediate, miraculous results from the Healer.............??

Psalm 146 after a passage in the New Testament about Jesus and His miracles of healing.

And this is what God wanted me to grasp today

image taken from psalmslife.com

AIM HIGH IN HOPE!

The entire Psalm is a praise song followed by another praise song in Psalm 147.  I was actually reading Psalm 147 when I noticed a devotional on the facing page. It was from Psalm 146.  So I read the entire Psalm.

It was these verses that my eyes fixated on:

"Happy is he who has the God of Jacob for his help, whose hope is in the Lord his God, who made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them;  who keeps truth forever."

The devotional anecdote had the words of a famous American architect (Daniel Hudson Burnham)which stated:

"Make no little plans.  They have no magic to stir men's blood. Make big plans:  aim high in hope and work."

And then the devo author went on to ask "How big is your faith?" "How big is your God?"

And that got me to thinking about what David meant here and about what the devo writer was saying.  How often do we just pray for God to get us through the day?  How come we don't pray I John 5:14 into our lives, into our families, into our worlds, into our very being?

"This is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us"

Aim high in hope, Faith.  That's what God was whispering to me this morning:

HOPE!! I AM THE ALPHA AND OMEGA!!

 I AM A BIG GOD!!!

I don't have to worry about this nerve pain.  God opened a door for me to receive some physical therapy with 2 women who are patient, encouraging, and helping me target the problem.

God wants me to keep praising Him, no matter what. To keep hoping.

This might hinder some plans I have for vacation but I can work as if everything depends on me and I can pray as if everything depends on God.

Because it does!  I can go directly to God and have the confidence He hears me.  He understands my frustrations.  He brings comfort in the form of intercessors and people who encourage and have wisdom,  and physical therapy exercises!

So often, when I experience something physically wrong with me (which isn't often), I tend to become fixated on the problem, rather than continuing to be fixated on the One who can fix the problem!!  Oh, I pray. But it is often with little faith....without fully trusting.  Sometimes I am better at trusting than at other times. When pain hits me, it seems like all my spiritual maturity (what little I have!) just leaves.......I become obsessed with getting better, stronger, or I become a worry-wart!  And I do NOT like that.

So today, over that strong cup of coffee and that wracking nerve pain, I decided to just praise the Lord anyways.....I am aiming high and hoping in Him.

And if He chooses for me to go through some physical therapy and some daily exercises to get my back and leg the way they are meant to feel, then I will embrace that!

I want, more than anything, to aim high....and put my hope in Him.

One of those hopes is, of course, to be pain-free in another week.

But the most important thing for me right now is to fully trust in Him.  With my whole being....not just lip service.

My whole being praising Him, trusting Him......

........and aiming high.