Enjoying the Benefits

So I woke up earlier this week at about 4am and couldn’t fall back to sleep.  I got out of bed, and sat in front of the television, hoping that the incessant drone of infomercials would put me out at least until 6am.  After two hours, although I now knew how to achieve rock-solid abs for only $129.99, I was completely unable to catch a single wink of blessed slumber.  During that time, between gaining insight into Juicer technology and how to remove unwanted body hair, I found myself talking to the Lord…talking to Him in a way that resembles the conversations I have with my daughters when they first wake up each morning.  The prayers were simple…they were heartfelt.  There was an appeal for guidance and a request for peace.  I asked for reassurance of His presence and promises of safety in the midst of stormy attacks from our enemy. 

A little while later, during my quiet time, I came across something amazing.  Psalm 103 states,

“Praise the Lord, O my soul; all my inmost being, praise his holy name. Praise the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits— who forgives all your sins and heals all your diseases, who redeems your life from the pit and crowns you with love and compassion, who satisfies your desires with good things so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.”  

In my morning haze, I had asked God to deliver me…in some ways, I was asking Him to reassure me of the benefits of living obediently.  How awkward and inappropriate?  But also, how childlike?  I cannot count the number of times that my children have asked, “How much do you love me, daddy?”  Were my girls not asking the same thing of me as I was asking of the Lord?  Psalm 103 lists off the “benefits” of following God and the first, “forgiveness of all sins”, is truly the most dramatic.  In my early morning conversation, I was begging for an answer…in God’s graciousness He reassured me that His answer was already given.  His love, His forgiveness, His protection, and His satisfying presence are the answers to our immature requests.  It is when things seem the most desperate and scary that our actions and responses to God’s tender care become the most real; living obediently should inspire us to place all of our hopes in the God whose promises never return void. 

You know, a few minutes after this time of reflection, my hand bumped my coffee cup off of the counter and I was forced to mop up the creamy mess.  But by this point in my morning I had to smile…I was already enjoying the benefits of serving a God who loved me enough to save me and whose promises will carry all of us through anything that the enemy of our souls may throw our way.  “Praise the Lord, O my soul; all my inmost being, praise His Holy name.”