Downcast

I was rather glum yesterday -- the weight of the world on my shoulders.  At some point I heard in my spirit... "Why are you downcast, O my soul?"  I knew that came from a Psalm and the point was with God there is no need to be downcast.  I let the day go on and never stopped to look up the actual Psalm.  But this morning I did...

Ps. 42:5 & 11 Why are you downcast, O my soul? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God for I will yet praise Him, my Savior and my God.

and then I read on to verse 6...


My soul is downcast within me; therefore I will remember You....

There is the key to not being downcast...

remember WHO God is... WHAT He has done... WHAT He promises

That is the cure! Remember... Focus..... on God.

And it is a choice... we CHOOSE to Focus on Him and not our circumstances.

Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfector of our faith. Heb. 12:2a

Let us -- again, a choice. Something we are told to do (Let us) but not made to do... it is our choice. So when I am downcast, it is my choice to stay there! Whoa!


My eyes are ever on the Lord, for only He will release my feet from the snare.  Ps. 25:15

Where are your eyes today?

Calling....

Call to me and I will answer you 

and tell you great and unsearchable things 

you do not know. 

Jer. 33:3 

(God's Phone Number)

I have a very close relationship with my mother.. always have. I think a lot of it is because I am an only daughter, so no sister to rival for Mom's attention... and while I am not actually an only child, I lived that life. My brother is 9 1/2 years older than me, so by the time I was 9 he was in college and then got married before he finished school... so he was gone and it was just me and the folks.

While I have had disagreements with my mom over the years, I never went through that "I hate my mother" stage some girls do.... the guilt of even thinking that would kill me!  

So it is no surprise that I talk to my mom regularly. Growing up she owned a business and I had the number there and could call her for any reason at any time.. and I did. I called her almost daily in college.  After being married a few years my husband and I left my hometown to move 2 hours away. I called a lot! 16 years ago she and my dad moved here.. 9/10s of a mile from our home.. and still I call!  LOL!  It is just a habit to call and check on Mom each day.. even if I have seen her in person.

That is why it was so weird last night when I came in from mid-week services at church and went to grab the phone and call Mother.  I could call.. she would not answer. Mother has flown with my brother and his family to CA to a Marine base to see my nephew graduate from Basic Training.  I am glad she went.. she will love seeing the Pacific Ocean... she will love seeing my nephew even more and there will be other grandkids and even a couple of great-grands that she rarely sees, so it will be a great trip for her. But it really was strange not to be able to talk with her.

As I thought about the strangeness of this, I thought of verses through out the Bible that talk of Calling on the Lord.  The cool thing is He is always there to answer!  He never goes out of town.. turns off His phone.. falls asleep and doesn't hear it.. nope, He is always there and He always hears us when we call.. and He wants us to call. 

the LORD will hear when I call to him Ps. 4:3

I call on you, O God, for you will answer me Os. 17:6

This poor man called, and the LORD heard him Ps. 34:6

Over the next few days when I feel the urge to call my Mom,  I think I will call my Father instead!