Last week I read Psalm 5. Because I look at numbers I noticed that three days in a row I made note of verse eight – so Psalm 3:8, 4:8, and 5:8 were verses I shared with people. Of course this is just information to entertain my mind.
LORD, lead me in your righteousness
because of those who wait to ambush me,
remove the obstacles in the way in which you are guiding me!Psalm 5:8
The day before I had received a text message. They asked me to continue to pray for a woman. I have been praying for her for many months. She had gone back to drugs, got high, then rapped, and found in a ditch by the police with only a shirt on. This is tough because two weeks before we had sat down where she discussed her desire to get her life together. Unfortunately, addicts are different.
After that text message I knew more would be coming and they did. People are always in pain.
One text I got had Exodus 20:21 and they asked me where is God found. My response was – the thick darkness. Their response – we aren’t there alone.
As I went to bed I kept repeating “only you can take it away Lord”. I was talking about my own pain. Then it dawned on me that I was asking for the wrong thing. I changed to say “Lord, be with me through this pain no matter how long it lasts or how deep it is.” I am mostly sure that this came from Exodus 20:21. God will be with us in the thick darkness. I pray I can remember this prayer.
Then the midnight texts came. My thought was basically when will I be free from these people. It feels like they just want to destroy me.
The next morning I read Psalm 5. They wait to ambush me. But I know that the Lord will remove the obstacles in the way. Lord lead me in your righteousness. It is not easy to serve where God wants us to serve. He puts different people in our lives and we just have to love them.