the Psalm of my life

Psalm 31:23
   "24 So be strong and courageous,
all you who put your hope in the Lord!"

I'm beginning to see that the book of Psalm in my Bible is a book that; for me at least, seems to be the cry of my heart. While I'm reading in Psalm, I find lots of verses underlined in my Bible. I think I've mentioned before that I underline verses that stick out to me and mark the year that the verse stuck out to me on the side. With my One Year Bible, I read the same verses every year on that same date, so if I add the year, then I can get a sense of what was going on in my life on such and such a date in such and such a year. So lately as I'm reading through this book, I see things from a time in my life where I was desperate for the Lord's help in all things, I see verses from the times in my life when I was seeking God's guidance on something, and I am starting to see several verses that mark my journey towards patience, faith and now hope.

How can one book seem to sum all of 7 years of my adult life? I think it has a lot to do with the fact that the authors were writing their personal feelings down. Much of the Old Testament is the history of the people of Israel, and most of the New Testament is telling of Jesus and His works, but looking at Psalms and a few other books in there as well; we get a rare look into the life of individuals. If you are currently alive (and I hope you are if you are reading this blog!) then you have probably discovered that life isn't all happy times. We have highs and lows in life, times when we are just excited to be alive and kicking; and also times where we are so depressed or unhappy that we've begged to die. I know that I've been both of those places and everywhere in between as well. The book of Psalm seems to voice many of my thoughts in those times. The writer/s have taken their pain, happiness and fear and put them all into words for us to read. If you have never read the Bible and feel that you could never "measure up" to Christianity...read Psalms, you'll see that the people writing felt that way too. But they didn't just walk away, the searched for their hope, they cried out in their pain, the rejoiced in their happy times. They were, in short, real people. Most of Psalms is written by King David, a great king of Israel, he had some seriously tough times in his life and it appears he's recorded this thoughts and feelings during those times for us. He also had some really awesome times in his life, and again recorded those for us too. So now I have a "go to" book when I need a verse to express my feelings.

Today, that feeling is hope. I have a hope in Christ, that I will one day have a baby of my own. I have a hope, that I will be a healthy person who doesn't have the strangest medical issues anymore. I also have a hope that I can discover and, in turn, accomplish what it is that Christ has called me to do with my life. I didn't read this verse in my bible today; I entered the word "hope" into a search engine and looked for a verse that said what I was feeling today. Psalm 31:23  "24 So be strong and courageous, all you who put your hope in the Lord!" came up and I immediately knew this was my verse. I have that hope in me, but I needed the reminder to be strong and courageous. 

Sometimes when I'm feeling hopeful on something; and it doesn't come to pass, I lose that hope all together. I feel like this verse is telling me to be courageous in that hope, and continue hoping even if it hasn't "come true" yet. During those times I need to remember that this hope has a strength too; that strength is Jesus. When my hope falters, I can always lay back in the arms of Christ and regain that hope; which I have done repeatedly!

I heard a song on my iPod on the way into work this morning, that song was Beauty from Pain, and it spoke to me a little. This song talks about understanding that what we are going through in our life may cause us pain, but we will eventually have beauty from that pain. I thought I'd add these words to my blog today, in hopes that someone else can feel their way to "the Light" and find hope that they will have beauty from their pain.

SUPERCHIC[K] LYRICS

"Beauty From Pain"

The lights go out all around me
One last candle to keep out the night
And then the darkness surrounds me
I know I'm alive but I feel like I've died
And all that's left is to accept that it's over
My dreams ran like sand through the fists that I made
I try to keep warm but I just grow colder
I feel like I'm slipping away

After all this has passed, I still will remain
After I've cried my last, there'll be beauty from pain
Though it won't be today, someday I'll hope again
And there'll be beauty from pain
You will bring beauty from my pain

My whole world is the pain inside me
The best I can do is just get through the day
When life before is only a memory
I'll wonder why God lets me walk through this place
And though I can't understand why this happened
I know that I will when I look back someday
And see how you've brought beauty from ashes
And made me as gold purified through these flames

After all this has passed, I still will remain
After I've cried my last, there'll be beauty from pain
Though it won't be today, someday I'll hope again
And there'll be beauty from pain
You will bring beauty from my pain

Here I am at the end of me (at the end of me)
Tryin' to hold to what I can't see (to what I can't see)
I forgot how to hope
This night's been so long
I cling to Your promise
There will be a dawn

After all this has passed, I still will remain
After I've cried my last, there'll be beauty from pain
Though it won't be today, someday I'll hope again
And there'll be beauty from pain
You will bring beauty from my pain