Life in the E.R. ~ Psalm 119 Part 9

Remember your word to your servant, for you have given me hope. My comfort in my suffering is this:  Your promise preserves my life. The arrogant mock me without restraint, but I do not turn from your law. I remember your ancient laws, O LORD, and I find comfort in them. Indignation grips me because of the wicked, who have forsaken your law. Your decrees are the theme of my song wherever I lodge. In the night I remember your name, O LORD, and I will keep your law. This has been my practice:  I obey your precepts. (Psalm 119:49-56)

Last week I joined millions of viewers who watched the series finale of E.R. on television.  I have enjoyed this drama series because it’s real.  It deals with the ups and downs of personal life, as well as the every day dramas that come into an emergency room.  Life is not always filled with happy endings, at least not on this earth.  The E.R. took in all kinds of patients and was constantly rushing from one patient to another.  The doctors had to make quick decisions and sometimes the results were not happy ones.

Sometimes life feels like an emergency room.  We rush in with a problem to God and as soon as it gets fixed, we leave the emergency room.  Then we’re back in the E.R. for the next emergency.  Life is filled with emergencies.  What happens when life is just life?  Do we go to God every day just because He is God, not because we need Him for a new emergency?  I don’t head to the store every time there is a sale.  I don’t go to the grocery store every time my favorite food is on sale.  I don’t call my husband every time something goes wrong.  Why is it that we have this mentality that we need to call on God only when we have emergencies?  Doesn’t God want to be a part of our lives daily?

Here are some simple ways to face, combat, and stand in difficult times!

1.  Let God’s Word be your beacon of Hope!  ~vs. 49

It’s easy to call a friend when life doesn’t make sense!  It’s easy to go out and buy something to make ourselves feel better.  Even better we can find that simple thing that helps us feel better, that thing that feeds our addiction.  But all these things help us out temporarily.  God’s Word is a beacon of Hope eternally.  Have you gone to God’s Word lately?  Have you found hope through the times that God came through for the Israelites?  Have you found hope through the life that Jesus lived out for you?  Have you found hope through the words that Paul wrote?  There is so much hope in the Word of God, you need to simply take the time to read it.  Take a shot of God’s Word, let it be injected into your bloodstream.  It’s power will change your life and influence you to live better for God!  It will not leave you in the dust wondering when your next dose from the E.R. needs to come!

2.  Let God’s Word preserve your life!  ~vs. 50

God’s Word will preserve your life daily, as you learn to depend on it.  They say an apple a day will keep the doctor away.  Well, I say a verse a day will keep the devil away.  God wants us to keep His Word hidden in our hearts.  He wants to preserve our lives with His Word.  His Truth will protect our hearts from the things of life that would want to damage us or control us in ways that are ugly!  God’s Word will heal us in ways that modern medicine cannot!  God’s Word will penetrate to the inner fiber of our being and preserve the meaning of what true life is in Christ!

3.  Let God’s Word be your theme song wherever you lodge!  ~vs. 54

What do you want the theme of your life to be when people look at you?  Pick a life verse out and let that be what you stand for.  May you find a theme that fits what you want to live up to, the standard you know God would have you live for.  May your life not be a series of events that keep you going back and forth to the emergency room, but may it be about a constant connection to God.  A life that lives out a passage of scripture that says you are here for more than just yourself, you are here to represent God.  Let God’s Word be the place you start your day, continue your day all day long, and even end your day.  You can do this through constantly renewing your mind in the Word!

4.  Let God’s Word guide you even in the dark times of life!  ~vs. 55

Remember to keep the convictions you have found in God’s Word even in the most difficult times of life.  David experienced some of the hardest times you can imagine and he continued to turn back to the Lord.  His heart was consistently turned back to the Lord and willing to find the light in God’s Word to lead him through the dark times.  Think of a match, it may be just a small flame, but when darkness is all around it…that small flame becomes pretty powerful.  God’s Word is like that flame, every passage, every word of Truth you commit to your heart will light the path ahead through the dark times of life.  Remember this:

“Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light for my path.” (Psalm 119:105)

God’s Word will light your path.  Will you take the time to learn God’s Word, to hide it in your heart, to treasure it as the only book worth more than all the books in this world?

Lord, I pray that Your Word will truly be a lamp unto my feet.  May I continue to learn the words that You have written and let them guide me daily.  May I let Your words be the medicine for my soul and the sweet balm for my spirit.  You are the True Healer.  I come to You, the Giver of Words that are everlasting, victorious, and always living!  May I continue to uphold Your Word in my heart!

Learning to live life outside of the E.R.,